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Is USAA Growth & Tax Strategy (USBLX) 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 USAA Growth & Tax Strategy (USBLX - Free Report) . USBLX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Victory is based in Columbus, OH, and is the manager of USBLX. Since USAA Growth & Tax Strategy made its debut in January of 1989, USBLX has garnered more than $701.16 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. USBLX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.28% 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 6.57%, 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. Over the past three years, USBLX's standard deviation comes in at 10.17%, compared to the category average of 9.42%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 8.77% compared to the category average of 8.16%. 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 0.5, which means it is hypothetically less 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. USBLX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.24, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, USBLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, USBLX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, USAA Growth & Tax Strategy ( USBLX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, USAA Growth & Tax Strategy ( USBLX ) looks like a good potential 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. 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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Is USAA Growth & Tax Strategy (USBLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, a place to start could be USAA Growth & Tax Strategy (USBLX - Free Report) . USBLX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Victory is based in Columbus, OH, and is the manager of USBLX. Since USAA Growth & Tax Strategy made its debut in January of 1989, USBLX has garnered more than $701.16 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. USBLX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.28% 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 6.57%, 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. Over the past three years, USBLX's standard deviation comes in at 10.17%, compared to the category average of 9.42%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 8.77% compared to the category average of 8.16%. 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 0.5, which means it is hypothetically less 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. USBLX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.24, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, USBLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, USBLX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $3,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, USAA Growth & Tax Strategy ( USBLX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, USAA Growth & Tax Strategy ( USBLX ) looks like a good potential 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. 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.