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Is Laudus US Large Cap Growth (LGILX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Large Cap Growth funds, a place to start could be Laudus US Large Cap Growth (LGILX - Free Report) . LGILX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
LGILX is classified in the Large Cap Growth segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their stock market valuation is more than $10 billion. Large Cap Growth mutual funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers.
History of Fund/Manager
Laudus is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of LGILX. Laudus US Large Cap Growth debuted in July of 2009. Since then, LGILX has accumulated assets of about $1.74 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Lawrence G. Kemp, has been in charge of the fund since October of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. LGILX has a 5-year annualized total return of 17.09% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 14.02%, 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. Compared to the category average of 11.73%, the standard deviation of LGILX over the past three years is 13.03%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.34% compared to the category average of 11.3%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.08, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 1.21, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 96.65% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $229.84 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Turnover is 73%, which means, on average, the fund makes more trades in a given year than the average of 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, LGILX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.76% compared to the category average of 1.12%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, LGILX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Laudus US Large Cap Growth has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Laudus US Large Cap Growth looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on LGILX in 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. 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 Laudus US Large Cap Growth (LGILX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Large Cap Growth funds, a place to start could be Laudus US Large Cap Growth (LGILX - Free Report) . LGILX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
LGILX is classified in the Large Cap Growth segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their stock market valuation is more than $10 billion. Large Cap Growth mutual funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers.
History of Fund/Manager
Laudus is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of LGILX. Laudus US Large Cap Growth debuted in July of 2009. Since then, LGILX has accumulated assets of about $1.74 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Lawrence G. Kemp, has been in charge of the fund since October of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. LGILX has a 5-year annualized total return of 17.09% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 14.02%, 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. Compared to the category average of 11.73%, the standard deviation of LGILX over the past three years is 13.03%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.34% compared to the category average of 11.3%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.08, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 1.21, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 96.65% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $229.84 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Turnover is 73%, which means, on average, the fund makes more trades in a given year than the average of 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, LGILX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.76% compared to the category average of 1.12%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, LGILX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Laudus US Large Cap Growth has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Laudus US Large Cap Growth looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on LGILX in 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. 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.