Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Glenmede Large Cap Growth Fund (GTLLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

On the lookout for a Large Cap Growth fund? Starting with Glenmede Large Cap Growth Fund (GTLLX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. GTLLX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

GTLLX 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

Glenmede is based in Philadelphia, PA, and is the manager of GTLLX. Glenmede Large Cap Growth Fund made its debut in March of 2004, and since then, GTLLX has accumulated about $3.51 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Vladimir de Vassal, has been in charge of the fund since March of 2004.

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 18.66%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 12.56%, 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, GTLLX's standard deviation comes in at 10.57%, compared to the category average of 11.42%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 10.43% compared to the category average of 10.92%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In GTLLX's case, the fund lost 49.7% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 0.81%. This means that the fund could possibly be a worse choice than its peers during a down market environment.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.05, the fund 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 1.87, which shows 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, GTLLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.87% compared to the category average of 1.13%. GTLLX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Glenmede Large Cap Growth Fund has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Glenmede Quant US Large Cap Gr Eq (GTLLX) - free report >>