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Is Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y (CSGYX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Small Cap Growth fund could think about starting with Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y (CSGYX - Free Report) . CSGYX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
CSGYX is part of the Small Cap Growth category, and this segment boasts an array of many other possible options. Small Cap Growth mutual funds usually focus their portfolios on stocks with large growth opportunities and a market cap of under $2 billion. These portfolios tend to feature small companies in up-and-coming industries and markets.
History of Fund/Manager
Columbia is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of CSGYX. Since Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y made its debut in July of 2009, CSGYX has garnered more than $55.77 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
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 9.81%, and is 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 15.04%, 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 9.41%, the standard deviation of CSGYX over the past three years is 15.15%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.62% compared to the category average of 9.51%. 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.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.15, so it is likely going to be 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.21, which shows that 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 95.54% of its assets in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $4.90 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Non-Durable
Health
Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 142%, 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, CSGYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 1.29%. CSGYX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y ( CSGYX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y ( CSGYX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Small Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y (CSGYX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Small Cap Growth fund could think about starting with Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y (CSGYX - Free Report) . CSGYX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
CSGYX is part of the Small Cap Growth category, and this segment boasts an array of many other possible options. Small Cap Growth mutual funds usually focus their portfolios on stocks with large growth opportunities and a market cap of under $2 billion. These portfolios tend to feature small companies in up-and-coming industries and markets.
History of Fund/Manager
Columbia is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of CSGYX. Since Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y made its debut in July of 2009, CSGYX has garnered more than $55.77 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
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 9.81%, and is 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 15.04%, 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 9.41%, the standard deviation of CSGYX over the past three years is 15.15%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.62% compared to the category average of 9.51%. 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.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.15, so it is likely going to be 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.21, which shows that 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 95.54% of its assets in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $4.90 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Non-Durable
- Health
- Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 142%, 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, CSGYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 1.29%. CSGYX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y ( CSGYX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Columbia Small Cap Growth Fund I Class Y ( CSGYX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Small Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.