Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is American Growth Fund Series Two E (AMREX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Looking for a Large Cap Growth fund? You may want to consider American Growth Fund Series Two E as a possible option. AMREX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify AMREX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.

History of Fund/Manager

AMREX finds itself in the American Growth family, based out of Denver, CO. The American Growth Fund Series Two E made its debut in February of 2011 and AMREX has managed to accumulate roughly $850,000 in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Timothy Taggart who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2011.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -6.21%, 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 1.88%, which places it in the bottom 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. Over the past three years, AMREX's standard deviation comes in at 32.05%, compared to the category average of 20.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 28.09% compared to the category average of 16.88%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. AMREX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -15.73, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, AMREX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.03% compared to the category average of 1.04%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, AMREX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Growth Fund Series Two E ( AMREX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, American Growth Fund Series Two E ( AMREX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.

Published in