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Is Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional (EGFIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Well, Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional (EGFIX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. EGFIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Edgewood is responsible for EGFIX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. The Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional made its debut in March of 2006 and EGFIX has managed to accumulate roughly $31.52 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 18.79%, 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 18.68%, 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. EGFIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 19.31% compared to the category average of 17.13%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.34% compared to the category average of 15.31%. 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 0.96, so it is likely going to be less 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 positive alpha of 3.37. This means 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 75.97% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $434.89 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Non-Durable
Turnover is about 28%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, EGFIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 1%. From a cost perspective, EGFIX is actually on par with its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $100,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional ( EGFIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and on par fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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 EGFIX too 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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