Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Schwab S&P 500 Index (SWPPX Quick QuoteSWPPX - Free Report) . SWPPX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

SWPPX is a part of the Schwab Funds family of funds, a company based out of San Francisco, CA. Schwab S&P 500 Index made its debut in May of 1997, and since then, SWPPX has accumulated about $66.99 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. SWPPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.17% 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 13.68%, 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. SWPPX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.02% compared to the category average of 18.07%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.78% compared to the category average of 18.97%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.01, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 84.87% in stocks and it has 2.51% of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

• Technology
• Finance

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, SWPPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.02% compared to the category average of 0.80%. From a cost perspective, SWPPX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.