There are plenty of choices in the Large Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Core (TPLGX Quick QuoteTPLGX - Free Report) . TPLGX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

TPLGX 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

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of TPLGX. T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Core debuted in October of 2003. Since then, TPLGX has accumulated assets of about $6.03 billion, according to the most recently available information. Larry J. Puglia is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2003.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 22.64%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 18.23%, 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. Over the past three years, TPLGX's standard deviation comes in at 19.11%, compared to the category average of 19.94%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.05% compared to the category average of 16.41%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.99, the fund is likely to be as volatile as 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 5.37, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 76.28% stock in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $381.21 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Technology
2. Retail Trade
3. Finance

Turnover is 30.4%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, TPLGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.56% compared to the category average of 1.03%. TPLGX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1 million, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Core ( TPLGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Core ( TPLGX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about TPLGX? 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. 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.