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Is MassMutual Select Small Cap Growth Equity R5 (MSGSX) 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 might be worth investigating is MassMutual Select Small Cap Growth Equity R5 (MSGSX - Free Report) . MSGSX possesses 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
MSGSX is a part of the MassMutual family of funds, a company based out of Springfield, MA. MassMutual Select Small Cap Growth Equity R5 debuted in May of 1999. Since then, MSGSX has accumulated assets of about $114.05 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.23%, 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 9.68%, 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. MSGSX's standard deviation over the past three years is 25.55% compared to the category average of 18.52%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 23.47% compared to the category average of 16.4%. 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 1.12, which means 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.71. This means that 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 97.71% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $4.56 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Health
Industrial Cyclical
Finance
Turnover is 75%, which means this fund makes more traders than comparable funds in a given year.
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, MSGSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 1.19%. So, MSGSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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, MassMutual Select Small Cap Growth Equity R5 ( MSGSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse 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 MSGSX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is MassMutual Select Small Cap Growth Equity R5 (MSGSX) 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 might be worth investigating is MassMutual Select Small Cap Growth Equity R5 (MSGSX - Free Report) . MSGSX possesses 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
MSGSX is a part of the MassMutual family of funds, a company based out of Springfield, MA. MassMutual Select Small Cap Growth Equity R5 debuted in May of 1999. Since then, MSGSX has accumulated assets of about $114.05 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.23%, 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 9.68%, 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. MSGSX's standard deviation over the past three years is 25.55% compared to the category average of 18.52%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 23.47% compared to the category average of 16.4%. 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 1.12, which means 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.71. This means that 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 97.71% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $4.56 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Health
- Industrial Cyclical
- Finance
Turnover is 75%, which means this fund makes more traders than comparable funds in a given year.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, MSGSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 1.19%. So, MSGSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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, MassMutual Select Small Cap Growth Equity R5 ( MSGSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse 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 MSGSX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.