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Is Putnam Global Technology Y (PGTYX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Putnam Global Technology Y (PGTYX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. PGTYX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

PGTYX is a part of the Putnam Funds family of funds, a company based out of Canton, MA. The Putnam Global Technology Y made its debut in January of 2009 and PGTYX has managed to accumulate roughly $227.13 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Di Yao who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2012.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. PGTYX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.18% and it sits 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 11.69%, which places it in the top 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 PGTYX over the past three years is 24.72% compared to the category average of 17.78%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 22.33% compared to the category average of 15.91%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. PGTYX has a 5-year beta of 1.07, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 2.9. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, PGTYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.40% compared to the category average of 1.30%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PGTYX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Putnam Global Technology Y ( PGTYX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Putnam Global Technology Y ( PGTYX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on PGTYXin 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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