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Is Ave Maria Growth Fund (AVEGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Mid Cap Growth fund? Well, Ave Maria Growth Fund (AVEGX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. AVEGX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that AVEGX is a Mid Cap Growth fund, and this area is also loaded with many different options. Companies are usually considered growth stocks when they consistently report notable sales and/or earnings growth. Thus, Mid Cap Growth funds pick stocks--usually companies with a market cap between $2 billion and $10 billion--that demonstrate extensive growth opportunities for investors compared to their peers.
History of Fund/Manager
AVEGX is a part of the Ave Maria family of funds, a company based out of Plymouth, MI. Ave Maria Growth Fund made its debut in May of 2003, and since then, AVEGX has accumulated about $1.07 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Adam Gaglio who has been in charge of the fund since July of 2019.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.72%, 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 8.1%, which places it in the middle 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. Over the past three years, AVEGX's standard deviation comes in at 20.4%, compared to the category average of 21.17%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.48% compared to the category average of 20.99%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.07, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.5, which shows 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, AVEGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 0.93%. From a cost perspective, AVEGX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; 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
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Ave Maria Growth Fund ( AVEGX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on AVEGXin the Mid Cap Growth category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank 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.
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Is Ave Maria Growth Fund (AVEGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Mid Cap Growth fund? Well, Ave Maria Growth Fund (AVEGX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. AVEGX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that AVEGX is a Mid Cap Growth fund, and this area is also loaded with many different options. Companies are usually considered growth stocks when they consistently report notable sales and/or earnings growth. Thus, Mid Cap Growth funds pick stocks--usually companies with a market cap between $2 billion and $10 billion--that demonstrate extensive growth opportunities for investors compared to their peers.
History of Fund/Manager
AVEGX is a part of the Ave Maria family of funds, a company based out of Plymouth, MI. Ave Maria Growth Fund made its debut in May of 2003, and since then, AVEGX has accumulated about $1.07 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Adam Gaglio who has been in charge of the fund since July of 2019.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.72%, 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 8.1%, which places it in the middle 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. Over the past three years, AVEGX's standard deviation comes in at 20.4%, compared to the category average of 21.17%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.48% compared to the category average of 20.99%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.07, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.5, which shows 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, AVEGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 0.93%. From a cost perspective, AVEGX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; 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
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Ave Maria Growth Fund ( AVEGX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on AVEGXin the Mid Cap Growth category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank 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.