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Is American Century Income & Growth Investor (BIGRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Large Cap Blend fund? American Century Income & Growth Investor (BIGRX - Free Report) is a possible starting point. BIGRX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
BIGRX is classified in the Large Cap Blend segment by Zacks, which is an area full of potential. Targeting companies with market caps of more than $10 billion, Large Cap Blend mutual funds offer a stable investment choice; these funds are perfect for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Since blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, investors are exposed to both value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is responsible for BIGRX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. American Century Income & Growth Investor made its debut in December of 1990, and since then, BIGRX has accumulated about $1.91 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Steven Rossi is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2020.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 14.18%, and is 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 10.24%, 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 BIGRX over the past three years is 18.15% compared to the category average of 15.76%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.98% compared to the category average of 13.21%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.98, 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. BIGRX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.97, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 95.18% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $145.96 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is about 100%, so those in charge of the fund make more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.
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, BIGRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.66% compared to the category average of 0.96%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BIGRX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Income & Growth Investor ( BIGRX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Century Income & Growth Investor ( BIGRX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Large Cap Blend area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into BIGRX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is American Century Income & Growth Investor (BIGRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Large Cap Blend fund? American Century Income & Growth Investor (BIGRX - Free Report) is a possible starting point. BIGRX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
BIGRX is classified in the Large Cap Blend segment by Zacks, which is an area full of potential. Targeting companies with market caps of more than $10 billion, Large Cap Blend mutual funds offer a stable investment choice; these funds are perfect for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Since blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, investors are exposed to both value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is responsible for BIGRX, and the company is based out of Kansas City, MO. American Century Income & Growth Investor made its debut in December of 1990, and since then, BIGRX has accumulated about $1.91 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Steven Rossi is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2020.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 14.18%, and is 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 10.24%, 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 BIGRX over the past three years is 18.15% compared to the category average of 15.76%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.98% compared to the category average of 13.21%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.98, 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. BIGRX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.97, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 95.18% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $145.96 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is about 100%, so those in charge of the fund make more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.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, BIGRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.66% compared to the category average of 0.96%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BIGRX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Income & Growth Investor ( BIGRX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Century Income & Growth Investor ( BIGRX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Large Cap Blend area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into BIGRX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.