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Is Deutsche Core Equity Fund S (SCDGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Deutsche Core Equity Fund S (SCDGX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. SCDGX bears 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

SCDGX is a part of the DWS family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. Deutsche Core Equity Fund S debuted in December of 1961. Since then, SCDGX has accumulated assets of about $3.87 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 16.73%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 23.74%, 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, SCDGX's standard deviation comes in at 17.96%, compared to the category average of 15.45%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.91% compared to the category average of 13.03%. 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. SCDGX has a 5-year beta of 1.02, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. SCDGX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -1.8, 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, SCDGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.55% compared to the category average of 0.95%. From a cost perspective, SCDGX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Deutsche Core Equity Fund S ( SCDGX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Deutsche Core Equity Fund S ( SCDGX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about SCDGX? 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. 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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