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Is Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional (EGFIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Well, Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional (EGFIX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. EGFIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Edgewood is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of EGFIX. Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional debuted in March of 2006. Since then, EGFIX has accumulated assets of about $15.58 billion, according to 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. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.24%, and is in the bottom 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 10.9%, 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 20.57%, the standard deviation of EGFIX over the past three years is 25.81%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 22.28% compared to the category average of 18.14%. 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. EGFIX has a 5-year beta of 1.08, which means it is likely to be more 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. EGFIX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.83, demonstrating 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 76.08% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $209.15 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Non-Durable
Turnover is 32%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, EGFIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 0.99%. EGFIX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional ( EGFIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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