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Is Franklin Real Estate Security A (FREEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with Franklin Real Estate Security A (FREEX - Free Report) . FREEX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Franklin is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of FREEX. Franklin Real Estate Security A made its debut in January of 1994, and since then, FREEX has accumulated about $254.56 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Daniel Scher is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2014.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.78%, and is 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 4.54%, 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. The standard deviation of FREEX over the past three years is 20.05% compared to the category average of 18.66%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 19.41% compared to the category average of 16.25%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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 -4.08. This means that 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, FREEX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.04% compared to the category average of 1.19%. From a cost perspective, FREEX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Real Estate Security A ( FREEX ) 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 FREEX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is Franklin Real Estate Security A (FREEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with Franklin Real Estate Security A (FREEX - Free Report) . FREEX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Franklin is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of FREEX. Franklin Real Estate Security A made its debut in January of 1994, and since then, FREEX has accumulated about $254.56 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Daniel Scher is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2014.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.78%, and is 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 4.54%, 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. The standard deviation of FREEX over the past three years is 20.05% compared to the category average of 18.66%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 19.41% compared to the category average of 16.25%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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 -4.08. This means that 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, FREEX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.04% compared to the category average of 1.19%. From a cost perspective, FREEX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Real Estate Security A ( FREEX ) 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 FREEX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.