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

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If you have been looking for Large Cap Growth funds, it would not be wise to start your search with American Growth Fund Series Two E . AMREX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

AMREX 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

AMREX finds itself in the American Growth family, based out of Denver, CO. American Growth Fund Series Two E made its debut in February of 2011, and since then, AMREX has accumulated about $11.13 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Timothy Taggart, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2011.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. AMREX has a 5-year annualized total return of -1.23% 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 6.25%, 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. AMREX's standard deviation over the past three years is 32.71% compared to the category average of 25.63%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 30.93% compared to the category average of 20.84%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.91, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than 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. AMREX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -12.07, which means 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 1.02%. So, AMREX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

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 low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about AMREX? 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. 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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