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Is American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Have you been searching for a Mid Cap Value fund? You might want to begin with American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX - Free Report) . ACMVX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify ACMVX in the Mid Cap Value category, an area rife with potential choices. Mid Cap Value mutual funds aim to target medium-sized companies that possess strong value and income opportunities for investors. A mid-cap company usually holds a market capitalization of between $2 billion and $10 billion.

History of Fund/Manager

American Century is responsible for ACMVX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. The American Century Mid Cap Value Investor made its debut in March of 2004 and ACMVX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.65 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.96%, 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 10.74%, which places it in the middle 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. Compared to the category average of 16.17%, the standard deviation of ACMVX over the past three years is 20.97%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.86% compared to the category average of 13.33%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.05, the fund is likely to be more 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -5.79. This means 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 86.7% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $25.96 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance
  2. Industrial Cyclical
  3. Retail Trade
Turnover is 65%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.

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, ACMVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 1.11%. ACMVX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Century Mid Cap Value Investor ( ACMVX ) 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.

Want even more information about ACMVX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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