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Is Franklin Income C (FCISX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Allocation Balanced fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Franklin Income C (FCISX - Free Report) at this time. FCISX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FCISX 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

FCISX finds itself in the Franklin Templeton family, based out of San Mateo, CA. Franklin Income C made its debut in May of 1995, and since then, FCISX 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

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FCISX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.29% and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.5%, 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. Over the past three years, FCISX's standard deviation comes in at 12.13%, compared to the category average of 14.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 9.8% compared to the category average of 11.64%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.59, the fund is likely to be less 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 -3.29. 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, FCISX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.13% compared to the category average of 0.89%. From a cost perspective, FCISX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Franklin Income C ( FCISX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Franklin Income C ( FCISX ) looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FCISX? 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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