When it comes to selecting the right mutual fund, it’s all about the portfolio manager. But even a star manager doesn’t work in a vacuum; his team of analysts not only contributes to his success, but can also be molded by his example.

That appears to be the case with Hennessy Focus (HFCSX), which was previously known as FBR Focus Fund and helmed by famed investor Charles Akre from its 1997 inception through 2009. That year, Akre concluded his subadvisory relationship with the investment bank FBR and proceeded to launch a similar fund called Akre Focus (AKREX).

FBR then hired Akre’s three analysts to continue managing the original fund. To confuse matters slightly further, FBR subsequently sold its suite of actively managed funds to Hennessy late last year, and the fund was rebranded under its current name shortly thereafter.

In addition to prior investment experience, each member of the management team served under Akre as analysts for periods ranging from five years to 11 years. That’s presumably long enough to have been steeped in his value-oriented methodology for selecting growth stocks.

And now that they’ve been running HFCSX for more than three years, there are sufficient performance data to draw conclusions about their abilities as a management team. Indeed, the fund has gained 14.8 percent annually over the past three years, beating a difficult market by an average of 3 percentage points per year while incurring less risk than the other funds in its category.

Although Hennessy is well known as a devotee of quantitative investing, management continues to employ a fundamental stock-picking strategy that favors high-quality companies whose shares have suffered a short-term pullback. When analyzing each name, they undertake extensive research, which provides them with a thorough understanding of each company’s business model, industry, and potential risks. Given the fund’s low portfolio turnover, which averaged 13 percent the past two years, roughly half of the fund’s 24 equity holdings still originate from Akre’s tenure. Among the stocks management has added to the portfolio since then is MICROS Systems (NSDQ: MCRS), a leading provider of enterprise software and hardware to the retail and hospitality industries. Shares of the mid-cap stock swooned during the fourth quarter, and management used that as an opportunity to establish a pilot position (See more about this company on p. 12).

So how does HFCSX compare with Akre’s offering? Both funds use similar strategies to build small portfolios with an emphasis on midcaps. However, Akre Focus outperformed this fund by almost two percentage points annually over the past three years. Akre’s annual expense ratio is also several basis points cheaper.

Nevertheless, HFCSX has one key differentiator that we find compelling. Though both funds ply an all-cap strategy, the Hennessy fund’s smaller asset base gives it greater flexibility to supplement its substantial allocation to mid-caps with smaller-cap fare, including a nearly 10 percent allocation to micro-caps. Of course, each fund’s allocation mix could change as old positions are sold and new opportunities emerge.

For now, Akre’s offering is better suited to more risk-averse investors, while Hennessy Focus is a solid choice for growth investors who want mid-cap exposure with an aggressive slug of small- and microcap stocks.