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Is AMG Yacktman I (YACKX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for All Cap Value funds, a place to start could be AMG Yacktman I (YACKX - Free Report) . YACKX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify YACKX in the All Cap Value category, an area rife with potential choices. Like the name suggests, MUTUAL FUNDS invest in small, medium, and large-cap companies, though they end up focusing on bigger firms due to percentage of assets. These funds look for key value characteristics, targeting stocks that boast low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and whose share prices do not reflect their worth.

History of Fund/Manager

YACKX finds itself in the AMG Funds family, based out of Norwalk, CT. The AMG Yacktman I made its debut in July of 1992 and YACKX has managed to accumulate roughly $7.60 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Stephen Yacktman who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2002.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.65%, 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 11.84%, 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. YACKX's standard deviation over the past three years is 6.17% compared to the category average of 10.25%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 7.88% compared to the category average of 10.56%. This makes the fund less 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. In the most recent bear market, YACKX lost 40.99% and outperformed its peer group by 7.96%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.68, which means it is hypothetically less 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. YACKX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.97, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, YACKX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.70% compared to the category average of 1.15%. So, YACKX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $100,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, AMG Yacktman I ( YACKX ) 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.

Your research on the All Cap Value segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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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