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Is Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional (EGFIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Large Cap Growth fund might consider looking past Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional (EGFIX - Free Report) . EGFIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

EGFIX 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

Edgewood is responsible for EGFIX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. Since Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional made its debut in March of 2006, EGFIX has garnered more than $12.79 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 17.09%, 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 21.71%, 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 10.79%, the standard deviation of EGFIX over the past three years is 13.17%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 13.73% compared to the category average of 11.05%. 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. In the most recent bear market, EGFIX lost 46.7% and outperformed its peer group by 2.16%. This means that the fund could possibly be a better choice than its peers during a down market environment.

Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.09, 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. With a positive alpha of 4.28, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, EGFIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 1.06%. From a cost perspective, EGFIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $100,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Edgewood Growth Fund Institutional ( EGFIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

Your research on the Large Cap Growth 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. 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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