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Is Zacks Small-Cap Core Investor (ZSCCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider Zacks Small-Cap Core Investor (ZSCCX - Free Report) as a possible option. The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

Zacks Funds is responsible for ZSCCX, and the company is based out of Milwaukee, WI. Zacks Small-Cap Core Investor made its debut in June of 2011, and since then, ZSCCX has accumulated about $15.33 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Mitch Zacks is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June of 2011.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.66%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.48%, 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. The standard deviation of ZSCCX over the past three years is 23.51% compared to the category average of 19.33%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 21.38% compared to the category average of 17.39%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.09, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. ZSCCX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -6.02, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 95.15% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $2.15 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance
  2. Industrial Cyclical
  3. Other
This fund's turnover is about 116%, so the fund managers are making more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, ZSCCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.39% compared to the category average of 1.08%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, ZSCCX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.

Bottom Line

This could just be the start of your research on ZSCCXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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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