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Is T. Rowe Price Institutional Small-Cap Stock (TRSSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Small Cap Blend fund seekers should consider taking a look at T. Rowe Price Institutional Small-Cap Stock (TRSSX - Free Report) . TRSSX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

TRSSX is one of many Small Cap Blend funds to choose from. Small Cap Blend mutual funds allow investors a way to diversify their funds among various types of small-cap stocks. These funds seek companies with market capitalization of less than $2 billion, and aid in reducing volatility inherent in lower market cap stocks.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of TRSSX. The T. Rowe Price Institutional Small-Cap Stock made its debut in October of 2000 and TRSSX has managed to accumulate roughly $4.17 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Frank M. Alonso who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2016.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.39%, and is 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 16.77%, 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 15.86%, the standard deviation of TRSSX over the past three years is 13.95%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 14.51% compared to the category average of 15.9%. 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. TRSSX lost 49.13% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 3.16%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. TRSSX has a 5-year beta of 1.08, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.67. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 96.43% stock in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $3.42 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance
  2. Other
  3. Technology
  4. Industrial Cyclical
With turnover at about 39.8%, this fund is making fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, TRSSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.66% compared to the category average of 1.05%. TRSSX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1 million; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Institutional Small-Cap Stock ( TRSSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

This could just be the start of your research on TRSSXin the Small Cap Blend 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. 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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