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Is Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A (EKJAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A (EKJAX - Free Report) . EKJAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Allspring is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of EKJAX. Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A debuted in February of 1998. Since then, EKJAX has accumulated assets of about $872.74 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Thomas Ognar, has been in charge of the fund since May 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 6.85%, 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 2.84%, 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. EKJAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 25.32% compared to the category average of 18.23%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 21.91% compared to the category average of 15.98%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.08, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. EKJAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.58, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, 94.69% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $296.35 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
Finance
With turnover at about 54.85%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
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, EKJAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.13% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, EKJAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A ( EKJAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A ( EKJAX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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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Is Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A (EKJAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A (EKJAX - Free Report) . EKJAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Allspring is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of EKJAX. Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A debuted in February of 1998. Since then, EKJAX has accumulated assets of about $872.74 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Thomas Ognar, has been in charge of the fund since May 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 6.85%, 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 2.84%, 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. EKJAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 25.32% compared to the category average of 18.23%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 21.91% compared to the category average of 15.98%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.08, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. EKJAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.58, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, 94.69% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $296.35 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
- Finance
With turnover at about 54.85%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.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, EKJAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.13% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, EKJAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A ( EKJAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Wells Fargo Premier Large Company Growth A ( EKJAX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.