Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is T. Rowe Price Spectrum Growth (PRSGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should not consider taking a look at T. Rowe Price Spectrum Growth (PRSGX - Free Report) at this time. PRSGX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PRSGX. The T. Rowe Price Spectrum Growth made its debut in June of 1990 and PRSGX has managed to accumulate roughly $4.16 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Charles Shriver who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2011.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. PRSGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 8.8% and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 9.46%, which places it in the bottom 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, PRSGX's standard deviation comes in at 18.89%, compared to the category average of 18.9%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.92% compared to the category average of 17.24%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. PRSGX has a 5-year beta of 0.96, which means it is likely to be less 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. PRSGX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.12, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 84.76% of its holdings in stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. Turnover is 8.6%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, PRSGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 0.86%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PRSGX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Spectrum Growth ( PRSGX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Spectrum Growth ( PRSGX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on PRSGXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


T. Rowe Price Spectrum Divers Eq (PRSGX) - free report >>

Published in