If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, a place to start could be American Funds Balanced A (ABALX Quick QuoteABALX - Free Report) . ABALX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of ABALX. The American Funds Balanced A made its debut in September of 1932 and ABALX has managed to accumulate roughly $90.86 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. ABALX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.64% and it sits in the top 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 5.65%, 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. Compared to the category average of 17.21%, the standard deviation of ABALX over the past three years is 13.46%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 11.6% compared to the category average of 14.95%. 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. ABALX has a 5-year beta of 0.6, 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. ABALX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.08, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, ABALX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.56% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, ABALX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $250, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Funds Balanced A ( ABALX ) 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.

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