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Is USAA Aggressive Growth Fund (USAUX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? USAA Aggressive Growth Fund (USAUX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. USAUX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
USAUX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
Victory is responsible for USAUX, and the company is based out of Columbus, OH. Since USAA Aggressive Growth Fund made its debut in October of 1981, USAUX has garnered more than $1.99 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 13.09%, 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 6.03%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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, USAUX's standard deviation comes in at 21.84%, compared to the category average of 17.59%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 21.69% compared to the category average of 18.02%. 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 1.1, which means 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. With a negative alpha of -1.65, 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 92.9% in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $448.42 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
Turnover is 37%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, USAUX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.65% compared to the category average of 0.95%. So, USAUX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, USAA Aggressive Growth Fund ( USAUX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on USAUXin the Large Cap Growth 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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Is USAA Aggressive Growth Fund (USAUX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? USAA Aggressive Growth Fund (USAUX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. USAUX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
USAUX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
Victory is responsible for USAUX, and the company is based out of Columbus, OH. Since USAA Aggressive Growth Fund made its debut in October of 1981, USAUX has garnered more than $1.99 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 13.09%, 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 6.03%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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, USAUX's standard deviation comes in at 21.84%, compared to the category average of 17.59%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 21.69% compared to the category average of 18.02%. 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 1.1, which means 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. With a negative alpha of -1.65, 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 92.9% in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $448.42 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
Turnover is 37%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.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, USAUX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.65% compared to the category average of 0.95%. So, USAUX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, USAA Aggressive Growth Fund ( USAUX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on USAUXin the Large Cap Growth 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.