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Is Alger Capital Appreciation Institutional Fund I (ALARX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Large Cap Growth fund could think about starting with Alger Capital Appreciation Institutional Fund I (ALARX - Free Report) . ALARX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

ALARX 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

ALARX is a part of the Alger Funds family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. The Alger Capital Appreciation Institutional Fund I made its debut in November of 1993 and ALARX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.11 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. ALARX has a 5-year annualized total return of 20.74% and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 22.47%, 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 ALARX over the past three years is 19.05% compared to the category average of 16.15%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.93% compared to the category average of 13.39%. 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 0.99, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 4.21. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 85.15% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $478.29 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Other
  3. Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 83.95%, so the fund managers are making more trades in a given year than the category average.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, ALARX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.13% compared to the category average of 1.03%. From a cost perspective, ALARX is actually more expensive 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, Alger Capital Appreciation Institutional Fund I ( ALARX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about ALARX? 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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