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Is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX - Free Report) . PLGIX has 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
Principal Financial Group is based in Des Moines, IA, and is the manager of PLGIX. Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional made its debut in November of 2000, and since then, PLGIX has accumulated about $2.24 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Randy Welch is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June of 2009.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.73%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.01%, 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. Compared to the category average of 16.57%, the standard deviation of PLGIX over the past three years is 23.19%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 20.48% compared to the category average of 14.73%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.07, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.27, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 98.93% of its holdings in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $309.14 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
Turnover is about 30.7%, so those in charge of the fund make 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, PLGIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.68% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, PLGIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional ( PLGIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional ( PLGIX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into PLGIX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX - Free Report) . PLGIX has 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
Principal Financial Group is based in Des Moines, IA, and is the manager of PLGIX. Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional made its debut in November of 2000, and since then, PLGIX has accumulated about $2.24 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Randy Welch is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June of 2009.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.73%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.01%, 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. Compared to the category average of 16.57%, the standard deviation of PLGIX over the past three years is 23.19%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 20.48% compared to the category average of 14.73%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.07, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.27, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 98.93% of its holdings in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $309.14 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
Turnover is about 30.7%, so those in charge of the fund make 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, PLGIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.68% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, PLGIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional ( PLGIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional ( PLGIX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into PLGIX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.