Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Scout Mid Cap Fund (UMBMX Quick QuoteUMBMX - Free Report) . UMBMX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Eagle Funds is responsible for UMBMX, and the company is based out of St. Petersburg, FL. Scout Mid Cap Fund debuted in November of 2006. Since then, UMBMX has accumulated assets of about $4.28 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 13.49%, and is 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 15.59%, 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 UMBMX over the past three years is 20.62% compared to the category average of 15.67%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.29% compared to the category average of 13.86%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.07, the fund is likely to be more volatile than 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. With a negative alpha of -2.76, 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 93.28% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $20.90 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Industrial Cyclical
2. Finance
3. Technology
4. Non-Durable

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, UMBMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.95% compared to the category average of 1.15%. From a cost perspective, UMBMX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $10,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Scout Mid Cap Fund ( UMBMX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Scout Mid Cap Fund ( UMBMX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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 UMBMX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.