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Is Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund I (ALMRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mid Cap Growth funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund I (ALMRX - Free Report) . ALMRX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes ALMRX as Mid Cap Growth, a segment packed with options. Mid Cap Growth mutual funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. A firm is typically considered to be a growth stock if it consistently posts impressive sales and/or earnings growth.

History of Fund/Manager

Alger Funds is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of ALMRX. The Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund I made its debut in November of 1993 and ALMRX has managed to accumulate roughly $86.23 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Dan C. Chung is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2018.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 25.18%, and it sits 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 27.3%, 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. The standard deviation of ALMRX over the past three years is 23.2% compared to the category average of 17.49%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.77% compared to the category average of 14.53%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.1, which means it is hypothetically more 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 6.31. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, ALMRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.35% compared to the category average of 1.18%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, ALMRX is actually more expensive than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund I ( ALMRX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund I ( ALMRX ) looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mid Cap Growth funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare ALMRX to its peers 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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