Being a value fund, and small cap to boot, I'll bet they are having a hard time finding good companies they think offer a deep discount to future earnings without stepping on their mandate.

I see it happen so often. I want a pretty large position in small and micro caps so I buy and within 12 months, the fund will have closed because too much cash is pouring in to the fund.

Five years ago I repositioned my portfolio when I retired with:

mega cap ----- 5%
large cap ----- 10%
medium cap ----- 25%
small cap ----- 25%
micro cap ----- 20%
cash and bonds ----- 15%

Two years later it had slid up the range to:

mega cap ----- 10%
large cap ----- 25%
medium cap ----- 25%
small cap ----- 15%
micro cap ----- 5%
cash and bonds ----- 20%

With 6 of my funds closed to new investors. I researched several more small cap funds to buy and the good ones were closed to new investment.

It may be past time fro this fund to close if it hasn't already.