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Is Aegis Value Fund (AVALX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Aegis Value Fund (AVALX - Free Report) . AVALX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Aegis is based in McLean, VA, and is the manager of AVALX. The Aegis Value Fund made its debut in June of 2000 and AVALX has managed to accumulate roughly $177.52 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Scott L. Barbee who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2000.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 17.5%, and it sits in the top 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 19.99%, 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 AVALX over the past three years is 34.22% compared to the category average of 28.08%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 28.06% compared to the category average of 23.04%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. AVALX has a 5-year beta of 1.3, which means it is likely to be more volatile than 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. AVALX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.78, demonstrating that 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, AVALX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.43% compared to the category average of 1.25%. From a cost perspective, AVALX is actually more expensive than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $10,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $250.
Bottom Line
Overall, Aegis Value Fund ( AVALX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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 Aegis Value Fund (AVALX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Aegis Value Fund (AVALX - Free Report) . AVALX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Aegis is based in McLean, VA, and is the manager of AVALX. The Aegis Value Fund made its debut in June of 2000 and AVALX has managed to accumulate roughly $177.52 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Scott L. Barbee who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2000.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 17.5%, and it sits in the top 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 19.99%, 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 AVALX over the past three years is 34.22% compared to the category average of 28.08%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 28.06% compared to the category average of 23.04%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. AVALX has a 5-year beta of 1.3, which means it is likely to be more volatile than 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. AVALX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.78, demonstrating that 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, AVALX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.43% compared to the category average of 1.25%. From a cost perspective, AVALX is actually more expensive than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $10,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $250.
Bottom Line
Overall, Aegis Value Fund ( AVALX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.