If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, make sure to pass over Franklin Biotechnology Discovery A (FBDIX Quick QuoteFBDIX - Free Report) . FBDIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

FBDIX is a part of the Franklin Templeton family of funds, a company based out of San Mateo, CA. Franklin Biotechnology Discovery A made its debut in September of 1997, and since then, FBDIX has accumulated about $790.69 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FBDIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 4.22% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.36%, 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. FBDIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 22.31% compared to the category average of 15.22%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 22.3% compared to the category average of 13.7%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.91, the fund is likely to be less 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. FBDIX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -8.4, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, FBDIX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 1.30%. FBDIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Franklin Biotechnology Discovery A ( FBDIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.