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Is Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor (SWHGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor (SWHGX - Free Report) could be a potential option. SWHGX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
SWHGX is a part of the Schwab Funds family of funds, a company based out of San Francisco, CA. Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor debuted in November of 1995. Since then, SWHGX has accumulated assets of about $871 million, according to the most recently available information. Zifan Tang is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2012.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.8%, and is 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 5.88%, 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, SWHGX's standard deviation comes in at 17.56%, compared to the category average of 17.17%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.37% compared to the category average of 15.01%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.81, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. SWHGX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.23, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, SWHGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.39% compared to the category average of 0.86%. So, SWHGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor ( SWHGX ) 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 good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about SWHGX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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 Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor (SWHGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor (SWHGX - Free Report) could be a potential option. SWHGX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
SWHGX is a part of the Schwab Funds family of funds, a company based out of San Francisco, CA. Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor debuted in November of 1995. Since then, SWHGX has accumulated assets of about $871 million, according to the most recently available information. Zifan Tang is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2012.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.8%, and is 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 5.88%, 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, SWHGX's standard deviation comes in at 17.56%, compared to the category average of 17.17%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.37% compared to the category average of 15.01%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.81, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. SWHGX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.23, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, SWHGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.39% compared to the category average of 0.86%. So, SWHGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor ( SWHGX ) 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 good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about SWHGX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.