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Is Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor (BIAFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor (BIAFX - Free Report) is one possibility. BIAFX bears 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
Brown Adv Fds is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of BIAFX. The Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor made its debut in December of 2006 and BIAFX has managed to accumulate roughly $441.79 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Maneesh Bajaj is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.94%, and it sits in the middle 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 13.29%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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 BIAFX over the past three years is 19.04% compared to the category average of 16.77%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.94% compared to the category average of 17.21%. 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 1.04, 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. BIAFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.6, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 87.57% in stocks and it has 7.12% of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
With turnover at about 10%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, BIAFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.69% compared to the category average of 0.85%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BIAFX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor ( BIAFX ) 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 great potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare BIAFX to its peers as well for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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Is Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor (BIAFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor (BIAFX - Free Report) is one possibility. BIAFX bears 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
Brown Adv Fds is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of BIAFX. The Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor made its debut in December of 2006 and BIAFX has managed to accumulate roughly $441.79 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Maneesh Bajaj is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2017.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.94%, and it sits in the middle 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 13.29%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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 BIAFX over the past three years is 19.04% compared to the category average of 16.77%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.94% compared to the category average of 17.21%. 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 1.04, 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. BIAFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.6, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 87.57% in stocks and it has 7.12% of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
With turnover at about 10%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, BIAFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.69% compared to the category average of 0.85%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BIAFX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor ( BIAFX ) 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 great potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare BIAFX to its peers as well for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.