If you have been looking for Allocation Balanced fund category, a potential starting could be Permanent Portfolio Fund (PRPFX Quick QuotePRPFX - Free Report) . PRPFX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

PRPFX is classified in the Allocation Balanced segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Here, investors are able to get a good head start with diversified mutual funds, and play around with core holding options for a portfolio of funds. Allocation Balanced funds look to invest across a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation.

History of Fund/Manager

Permanent is responsible for PRPFX, and the company is based out of San Francisco, CA. Permanent Portfolio Fund debuted in December of 1982. Since then, PRPFX has accumulated assets of about $2.37 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Michael J. Cuggino, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2003.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.36%, and it sits 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 12.78%, 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. Compared to the category average of 12.46%, the standard deviation of PRPFX over the past three years is 12.12%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.05% compared to the category average of 10.2%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.57, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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. PRPFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.99, 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, PRPFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.83% compared to the category average of 0.89%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PRPFX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, Permanent Portfolio Fund ( PRPFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Permanent Portfolio Fund ( PRPFX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

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