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Is Harbor Capital Appreciation Institutional (HACAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Large Cap Growth fund category, Harbor Capital Appreciation Institutional (HACAX - Free Report) could be a potential option. HACAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
HACAX 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
HACAX finds itself in the Harbor Funds family, based out of Chicago, IL. Since Harbor Capital Appreciation Institutional made its debut in December of 1987, HACAX has garnered more than $22.21 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Spiros Segalas who has been in charge of the fund since May of 1990.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. HACAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 17.82% and it sits in the top 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 14.47%, 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. HACAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 12.59% compared to the category average of 9.31%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 11.87% compared to the category average of 10.92%. This makes the fund more 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. HACAX lost 43.95% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 4.94%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. HACAX has a 5-year beta of 1.05, which means it 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.36. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, 95.5% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $236.52 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
With turnover at about 58%, this fund is making 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, HACAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.65% compared to the category average of 1.12%. So, HACAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Harbor Capital Appreciation Institutional has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Large Cap Growth 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 HACAX 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 Harbor Capital Appreciation Institutional (HACAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Large Cap Growth fund category, Harbor Capital Appreciation Institutional (HACAX - Free Report) could be a potential option. HACAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
HACAX 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
HACAX finds itself in the Harbor Funds family, based out of Chicago, IL. Since Harbor Capital Appreciation Institutional made its debut in December of 1987, HACAX has garnered more than $22.21 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Spiros Segalas who has been in charge of the fund since May of 1990.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. HACAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 17.82% and it sits in the top 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 14.47%, 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. HACAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 12.59% compared to the category average of 9.31%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 11.87% compared to the category average of 10.92%. This makes the fund more 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. HACAX lost 43.95% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 4.94%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. HACAX has a 5-year beta of 1.05, which means it 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.36. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, 95.5% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $236.52 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
With turnover at about 58%, this fund is making 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, HACAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.65% compared to the category average of 1.12%. So, HACAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $50,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Harbor Capital Appreciation Institutional has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Large Cap Growth 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 HACAX 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.