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Is Buffalo Discovery Investor (BUFTX) 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 you should consider investigating is Buffalo Discovery Investor (BUFTX - Free Report) . BUFTX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Buffalo Funds is based in Shawnee Mission, KS, and is the manager of BUFTX. Buffalo Discovery Investor debuted in April of 2001. Since then, BUFTX has accumulated assets of about $730.53 million, according to the most recently available information. Dave Carlsen is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2004.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.9%, and it sits in the bottom 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 6.94%, 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. The standard deviation of BUFTX over the past three years is 24.01% compared to the category average of 21.66%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 21% compared to the category average of 18.94%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.53, which shows that 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 84.16% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $21.81 billion. Turnover is 41%, which means, on average, the 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, BUFTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.01% compared to the category average of 1.15%. So, BUFTX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Buffalo Discovery Investor ( BUFTX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Buffalo Discovery Investor ( BUFTX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on BUFTXin 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is Buffalo Discovery Investor (BUFTX) 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 you should consider investigating is Buffalo Discovery Investor (BUFTX - Free Report) . BUFTX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Buffalo Funds is based in Shawnee Mission, KS, and is the manager of BUFTX. Buffalo Discovery Investor debuted in April of 2001. Since then, BUFTX has accumulated assets of about $730.53 million, according to the most recently available information. Dave Carlsen is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2004.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.9%, and it sits in the bottom 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 6.94%, 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. The standard deviation of BUFTX over the past three years is 24.01% compared to the category average of 21.66%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 21% compared to the category average of 18.94%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.53, which shows that 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 84.16% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $21.81 billion. Turnover is 41%, which means, on average, the 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, BUFTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.01% compared to the category average of 1.15%. So, BUFTX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Buffalo Discovery Investor ( BUFTX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Buffalo Discovery Investor ( BUFTX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on BUFTXin 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.