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Is PRIMECAP Odyssey Stock Fund (POSKX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Large Cap Blend fund could think about starting with PRIMECAP Odyssey Stock Fund (POSKX - Free Report) . POSKX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that POSKX is a Large Cap Blend option, an area loaded with different options. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Additionally, blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, giving investors exposure to value and growth opportunities.

History of Fund/Manager

Primecap Odyssey is based in Pasadena, CA, and is the manager of POSKX. PRIMECAP Odyssey Stock Fund made its debut in November of 2004, and since then, POSKX has accumulated about $7.71 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. 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 15.82%, and is 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 13.98%, which places it in the bottom 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. POSKX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.47% compared to the category average of 19.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.67% compared to the category average of 15.6%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.05, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.85. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, POSKX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.65% compared to the category average of 0.95%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, POSKX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, PRIMECAP Odyssey Stock Fund ( POSKX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, PRIMECAP Odyssey Stock Fund ( POSKX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Large Cap Blend area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into POSKX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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