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Is Aegis Value Fund (AVALX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Small Cap Value category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Aegis Value Fund (AVALX - Free Report) . AVALX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AVALX is one of many Small Cap Value funds to choose from. Small Cap Value mutual funds typically invest in companies with market caps under $2 billion. These funds represent value because they offer more bang for an owner's buck, often demonstrated by lower P/E Ratios, high dividend yields, and better-than-average price-to-sales ratios.
History of Fund/Manager
AVALX is a part of the Aegis family of funds, a company based out of McLean, VA. Aegis Value Fund made its debut in June of 2000, and since then, AVALX has accumulated about $100.69 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Scott L. Barbee, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2000.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.18%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.92%, which places it in the middle 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. AVALX's standard deviation over the past three years is 19.11% compared to the category average of 13.56%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 25.01% compared to the category average of 12.92%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. AVALX lost 65.14% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 14%. This means that the fund could possibly be a worse choice than its peers during a down market environment.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.77, so investors should note that 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. AVALX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.58, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, AVALX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.50% compared to the category average of 1.29%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, AVALX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1 million; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $250.
Bottom Line
Overall, Aegis Value Fund ( AVALX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about AVALX? 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 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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Is Aegis Value Fund (AVALX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Small Cap Value category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Aegis Value Fund (AVALX - Free Report) . AVALX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AVALX is one of many Small Cap Value funds to choose from. Small Cap Value mutual funds typically invest in companies with market caps under $2 billion. These funds represent value because they offer more bang for an owner's buck, often demonstrated by lower P/E Ratios, high dividend yields, and better-than-average price-to-sales ratios.
History of Fund/Manager
AVALX is a part of the Aegis family of funds, a company based out of McLean, VA. Aegis Value Fund made its debut in June of 2000, and since then, AVALX has accumulated about $100.69 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Scott L. Barbee, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2000.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.18%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.92%, which places it in the middle 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. AVALX's standard deviation over the past three years is 19.11% compared to the category average of 13.56%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 25.01% compared to the category average of 12.92%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. AVALX lost 65.14% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 14%. This means that the fund could possibly be a worse choice than its peers during a down market environment.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.77, so investors should note that 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. AVALX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.58, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, AVALX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.50% compared to the category average of 1.29%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, AVALX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1 million; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $250.
Bottom Line
Overall, Aegis Value Fund ( AVALX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about AVALX? 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 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.