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Is Columbia Global Technology Growth A (CTCAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Tech category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Columbia Global Technology Growth A (CTCAX - Free Report) . CTCAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and CTCAX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
CTCAX is a part of the Columbia family of funds, a company based out of Kansas City, MO. Columbia Global Technology Growth A made its debut in November of 2002, and since then, CTCAX has accumulated about $714.62 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Rahul Narang is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2012.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 29.52%, 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 28.13%, 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. CTCAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.75% compared to the category average of 16.42%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.34% compared to the category average of 13.65%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. CTCAX has a 5-year beta of 1.02, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. With a positive alpha of 10.48, 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, CTCAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.19% compared to the category average of 1.35%. So, CTCAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Columbia Global Technology Growth A ( CTCAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Columbia Global Technology Growth A ( CTCAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Tech segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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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Is Columbia Global Technology Growth A (CTCAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Tech category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Columbia Global Technology Growth A (CTCAX - Free Report) . CTCAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and CTCAX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
CTCAX is a part of the Columbia family of funds, a company based out of Kansas City, MO. Columbia Global Technology Growth A made its debut in November of 2002, and since then, CTCAX has accumulated about $714.62 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Rahul Narang is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2012.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 29.52%, 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 28.13%, 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. CTCAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.75% compared to the category average of 16.42%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.34% compared to the category average of 13.65%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. CTCAX has a 5-year beta of 1.02, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. With a positive alpha of 10.48, 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, CTCAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.19% compared to the category average of 1.35%. So, CTCAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Columbia Global Technology Growth A ( CTCAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Columbia Global Technology Growth A ( CTCAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Tech segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.