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Is AQR Large Cap Defensive Style I (AUEIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Large Cap Blend fund category, AQR Large Cap Defensive Style I (AUEIX - Free Report) could be a potential option. AUEIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AUEIX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.
History of Fund/Manager
AUEIX is a part of the AQR Funds family of funds, a company based out of Denver, CO. The AQR Large Cap Defensive Style I made its debut in July of 2012 and AUEIX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.91 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
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 15.41%, and it sits in the middle 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 13.33%, 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, AUEIX's standard deviation comes in at 16.54%, compared to the category average of 16.33%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.45% compared to the category average of 13.42%. 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 0.86, which means it is hypothetically less 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.72, which shows 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, AUEIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.40% compared to the category average of 0.95%. So, AUEIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $5 million; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, AQR Large Cap Defensive Style I ( AUEIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential 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 AUEIX too 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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Is AQR Large Cap Defensive Style I (AUEIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Large Cap Blend fund category, AQR Large Cap Defensive Style I (AUEIX - Free Report) could be a potential option. AUEIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AUEIX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.
History of Fund/Manager
AUEIX is a part of the AQR Funds family of funds, a company based out of Denver, CO. The AQR Large Cap Defensive Style I made its debut in July of 2012 and AUEIX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.91 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
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 15.41%, and it sits in the middle 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 13.33%, 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, AUEIX's standard deviation comes in at 16.54%, compared to the category average of 16.33%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.45% compared to the category average of 13.42%. 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 0.86, which means it is hypothetically less 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.72, which shows 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, AUEIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.40% compared to the category average of 0.95%. So, AUEIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $5 million; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, AQR Large Cap Defensive Style I ( AUEIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential 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 AUEIX too 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.