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Is Putnam Growth Opportunities A (POGAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Putnam Growth Opportunities A (POGAX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. POGAX 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
POGAX finds itself in the Putnam Funds family, based out of Canton, MA. The Putnam Growth Opportunities A made its debut in October of 1995 and POGAX has managed to accumulate roughly $4.93 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Richard Bodzy who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. POGAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.77% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 9.26%, which places it in the top 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, POGAX's standard deviation comes in at 22.94%, compared to the category average of 17.38%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.13% compared to the category average of 15.32%. This makes the fund more 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. POGAX has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 1.3, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, POGAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 1%. POGAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Putnam Growth Opportunities A ( POGAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential 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 POGAX too 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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Is Putnam Growth Opportunities A (POGAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Putnam Growth Opportunities A (POGAX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. POGAX 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
POGAX finds itself in the Putnam Funds family, based out of Canton, MA. The Putnam Growth Opportunities A made its debut in October of 1995 and POGAX has managed to accumulate roughly $4.93 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Richard Bodzy who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. POGAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.77% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 9.26%, which places it in the top 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, POGAX's standard deviation comes in at 22.94%, compared to the category average of 17.38%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.13% compared to the category average of 15.32%. This makes the fund more 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. POGAX has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 1.3, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, POGAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 1%. POGAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Putnam Growth Opportunities A ( POGAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential 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 POGAX too 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.