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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? Ave Maria Growth Fund (AVEGX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. AVEGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AVEGX is part of the Mid Cap Growth section, a segment that boasts a wide array of possible selections. While Mid Cap Growth mutual funds choose companies with a stock market valuation between $2 billion and $10 billion, stocks in these funds are also expected to show broad considerable growth opportunities for investors compared to their peers. To be considered a growth stock, companies must consistently report impressive sales and/or earnings growth.
History of Fund/Manager
Ave Maria is based in Plymouth, MI, and is the manager of AVEGX. The Ave Maria Growth Fund made its debut in May of 2003 and AVEGX has managed to accumulate roughly $482.52 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Richard L. Platte is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. AVEGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.2% and is in the top 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 18.22%, which places it in the top 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 AVEGX over the past three years is 8.7% compared to the category average of 11.55%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 9.64% compared to the category average of 11.41%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. AVEGX lost 43.21% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 7.91%. These results could imply that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.92, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. With a positive alpha of 0.35, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, AVEGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.08% compared to the category average of 1.20%. So, AVEGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Ave Maria Growth Fund ( AVEGX ) 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.
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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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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? Ave Maria Growth Fund (AVEGX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. AVEGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AVEGX is part of the Mid Cap Growth section, a segment that boasts a wide array of possible selections. While Mid Cap Growth mutual funds choose companies with a stock market valuation between $2 billion and $10 billion, stocks in these funds are also expected to show broad considerable growth opportunities for investors compared to their peers. To be considered a growth stock, companies must consistently report impressive sales and/or earnings growth.
History of Fund/Manager
Ave Maria is based in Plymouth, MI, and is the manager of AVEGX. The Ave Maria Growth Fund made its debut in May of 2003 and AVEGX has managed to accumulate roughly $482.52 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Richard L. Platte is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. AVEGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.2% and is in the top 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 18.22%, which places it in the top 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 AVEGX over the past three years is 8.7% compared to the category average of 11.55%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 9.64% compared to the category average of 11.41%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. AVEGX lost 43.21% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 7.91%. These results could imply that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.92, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. With a positive alpha of 0.35, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, AVEGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.08% compared to the category average of 1.20%. So, AVEGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Ave Maria Growth Fund ( AVEGX ) 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.
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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.