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Is Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A (FKASX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Small Cap Growth fund could think about starting with Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A (FKASX - Free Report) . FKASX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FKASX is one of many different Small Cap Growth funds to choose from. Small Cap Growth mutual funds build portfolios around stocks with markets caps under $2 billion and large growth opportunities. Additionally, these portfolios typically highlight smaller companies in promising markets and industries.
History of Fund/Manager
FKASX finds itself in the Federated family, based out of Pittsburgh, PA. Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A debuted in December of 2002. Since then, FKASX has accumulated assets of about $743.38 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FKASX has a 5-year annualized total return of 10.42% 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 13.63%, 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. FKASX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.85% compared to the category average of 11.19%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.6% compared to the category average of 11.03%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. FKASX lost 56.25% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 3%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.12, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 3.6, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FKASX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.36% compared to the category average of 1.23%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FKASX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A ( FKASX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Small 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A (FKASX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Small Cap Growth fund could think about starting with Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A (FKASX - Free Report) . FKASX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FKASX is one of many different Small Cap Growth funds to choose from. Small Cap Growth mutual funds build portfolios around stocks with markets caps under $2 billion and large growth opportunities. Additionally, these portfolios typically highlight smaller companies in promising markets and industries.
History of Fund/Manager
FKASX finds itself in the Federated family, based out of Pittsburgh, PA. Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A debuted in December of 2002. Since then, FKASX has accumulated assets of about $743.38 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FKASX has a 5-year annualized total return of 10.42% 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 13.63%, 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. FKASX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.85% compared to the category average of 11.19%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.6% compared to the category average of 11.03%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. FKASX lost 56.25% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 3%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.12, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 3.6, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FKASX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.36% compared to the category average of 1.23%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FKASX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A ( FKASX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Small 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.