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Is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Large Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX - Free Report) . PLGIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify PLGIX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
Principal Financial Group is based in Des Moines, IA, and is the manager of PLGIX. The Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional made its debut in November of 2000 and PLGIX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.25 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Randy Welch, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2009.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 23.54%, and it sits 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 21.78%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.61%, the standard deviation of PLGIX over the past three years is 19.7%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.18% compared to the category average of 12.89%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. PLGIX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 5.97, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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 80.98% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $465.89 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
With turnover at about 27.6%, this fund is making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
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, PLGIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.67% compared to the category average of 1.02%. So, PLGIX 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, Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional ( PLGIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Large Cap Growth 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 PLGIX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Large Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional (PLGIX - Free Report) . PLGIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify PLGIX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
Principal Financial Group is based in Des Moines, IA, and is the manager of PLGIX. The Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional made its debut in November of 2000 and PLGIX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.25 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Randy Welch, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2009.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 23.54%, and it sits 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 21.78%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.61%, the standard deviation of PLGIX over the past three years is 19.7%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.18% compared to the category average of 12.89%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. PLGIX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 5.97, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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 80.98% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $465.89 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
With turnover at about 27.6%, this fund is making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.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, PLGIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.67% compared to the category average of 1.02%. So, PLGIX 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, Principal Large Cap Growth I Institutional ( PLGIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Large Cap Growth 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 PLGIX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.