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Is American Funds Washington Mutual Investors A (AWSHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at American Funds Washington Mutual Investors A (AWSHX - Free Report) . AWSHX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
AWSHX is a part of the American Funds family of funds, a company based out of Los Angeles, CA. The American Funds Washington Mutual Investors A made its debut in July of 1952 and AWSHX has managed to accumulate roughly $69.71 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.5%, and it sits 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 9.53%, 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. Over the past three years, AWSHX's standard deviation comes in at 19.47%, compared to the category average of 17.34%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.76% compared to the category average of 15.18%. 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 0.86, which means it is hypothetically less 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. AWSHX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.01, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 96.04% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $236.95 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Technology
Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is about 19%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, AWSHX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 0.91%. So, AWSHX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $250, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds Washington Mutual Investors A ( AWSHX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential 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 AWSHX too 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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Is American Funds Washington Mutual Investors A (AWSHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at American Funds Washington Mutual Investors A (AWSHX - Free Report) . AWSHX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
AWSHX is a part of the American Funds family of funds, a company based out of Los Angeles, CA. The American Funds Washington Mutual Investors A made its debut in July of 1952 and AWSHX has managed to accumulate roughly $69.71 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.5%, and it sits 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 9.53%, 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. Over the past three years, AWSHX's standard deviation comes in at 19.47%, compared to the category average of 17.34%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.76% compared to the category average of 15.18%. 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 0.86, which means it is hypothetically less 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. AWSHX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.01, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 96.04% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $236.95 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Finance
- Technology
- Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is about 19%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than comparable funds.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, AWSHX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 0.91%. So, AWSHX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $250, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds Washington Mutual Investors A ( AWSHX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential 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 AWSHX too 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.