Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth (TRSGX Quick QuoteTRSGX - Free Report) . TRSGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of TRSGX. T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth debuted in July of 1994. Since then, TRSGX has accumulated assets of about $1.36 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Charles Shriver who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2011.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. TRSGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.25% 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 2.67%, which places it in the bottom 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 TRSGX over the past three years is 13.91% compared to the category average of 14.67%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.22% compared to the category average of 15.32%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.8, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. TRSGX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.35, demonstrating 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, TRSGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.62% compared to the category average of 0.88%. From a cost perspective, TRSGX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100

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

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth ( TRSGX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.