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Is T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser (PABGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Large Cap Growth fund could think about starting with T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser (PABGX - Free Report) . PABGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
PABGX 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
T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PABGX. Since T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser made its debut in June of 1993, PABGX has garnered more than $3.04 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Larry J. Puglia, has been in charge of the fund since June of 1993.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. PABGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 16% and is 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 21.32%, 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 9.82%, the standard deviation of PABGX over the past three years is 13.59%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 13.67% compared to the category average of 10.14%. 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. In the most recent bear market, PABGX lost 50.21% and underperformed comparable funds by 1.35%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.1, so investors should note that it is hypothetically 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. With a positive alpha of 3.12, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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.
This fund is currently holding about 80.14% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $263.05 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 27.2%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, PABGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 1.06%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PABGX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser ( PABGX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Want even more information about PABGX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser (PABGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Large Cap Growth fund could think about starting with T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser (PABGX - Free Report) . PABGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
PABGX 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
T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PABGX. Since T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser made its debut in June of 1993, PABGX has garnered more than $3.04 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Larry J. Puglia, has been in charge of the fund since June of 1993.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. PABGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 16% and is 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 21.32%, 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 9.82%, the standard deviation of PABGX over the past three years is 13.59%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 13.67% compared to the category average of 10.14%. 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. In the most recent bear market, PABGX lost 50.21% and underperformed comparable funds by 1.35%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.1, so investors should note that it is hypothetically 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. With a positive alpha of 3.12, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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.
This fund is currently holding about 80.14% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $263.05 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 27.2%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.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, PABGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 1.06%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PABGX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth Adviser ( PABGX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Want even more information about PABGX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.