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Is Invesco American Franchise A (VAFAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Invesco American Franchise A (VAFAX - Free Report) . VAFAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of VAFAX. Since Invesco American Franchise A made its debut in June of 2005, VAFAX has garnered more than $13.68 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Ido Cohen who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 18.08%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 21.37%, 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. Over the past three years, VAFAX's standard deviation comes in at 19.37%, compared to the category average of 15.04%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.07% compared to the category average of 13.27%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.07, so investors should note that 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. VAFAX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 0.48, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 80.75% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $450.69 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
With turnover at about 57%, this fund is making more trades in a given year than the category average.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VAFAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, VAFAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Invesco American Franchise A ( VAFAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Invesco American Franchise A ( VAFAX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare VAFAX to its peers as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is Invesco American Franchise A (VAFAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Invesco American Franchise A (VAFAX - Free Report) . VAFAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of VAFAX. Since Invesco American Franchise A made its debut in June of 2005, VAFAX has garnered more than $13.68 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Ido Cohen who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 18.08%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 21.37%, 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. Over the past three years, VAFAX's standard deviation comes in at 19.37%, compared to the category average of 15.04%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.07% compared to the category average of 13.27%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.07, so investors should note that 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. VAFAX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 0.48, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 80.75% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $450.69 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
With turnover at about 57%, this fund is making more trades in a given year than the category average.Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VAFAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, VAFAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Invesco American Franchise A ( VAFAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Invesco American Franchise A ( VAFAX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare VAFAX to its peers as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.