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Is Thrivent Large Cap Value Fund S (TLVIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, a place to start could be Thrivent Large Cap Value Fund S (TLVIX - Free Report) . TLVIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Thrivent is responsible for TLVIX, and the company is based out of Appleton, WI. The Thrivent Large Cap Value Fund S made its debut in December of 1997 and TLVIX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.30 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Kurt Lauber who has been in charge of the fund since March of 2013.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.02%, and is 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 13.32%, 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. TLVIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 21.27% compared to the category average of 17.57%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.57% compared to the category average of 14.6%. 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 1.08, so it is likely going to be more 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 negative alpha over the past 5 years of -5.96, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining 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.

Right now, 94.28% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $232.62 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance
  2. Technology
  3. Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is about 30%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, TLVIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.54% compared to the category average of 1%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, TLVIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Thrivent Large Cap Value Fund S ( TLVIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Thrivent Large Cap Value Fund S ( TLVIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about TLVIX? 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


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