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Is DFA US Large Cap Value III (DFUVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with DFA US Large Cap Value III (DFUVX - Free Report) is one possibility. DFUVX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

DFUVX is a part of the Dimensional family of funds, a company based out of Austin, TX. DFA US Large Cap Value III made its debut in February of 1995, and since then, DFUVX has accumulated about $4.32 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Jed Fogdall, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2012.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.92%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.1%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.

When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Over the past three years, DFUVX's standard deviation comes in at 22.24%, compared to the category average of 19.2%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.83% compared to the category average of 17.2%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.07, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. DFUVX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -4.2, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 96.67% of its holdings in stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. Turnover is 0%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, DFUVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.14% compared to the category average of 0.99%. DFUVX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, DFA US Large Cap Value III ( DFUVX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


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