If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, a place to start could be TIAA-CREF Large Cap Value Premier (TRCPX Quick QuoteTRCPX - Free Report) . TRCPX 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

TRCPX finds itself in the TIAA-CREF family, based out of Boston, MA. The TIAA-CREF Large Cap Value Premier made its debut in September of 2009 and TRCPX has managed to accumulate roughly $77.31 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Charles Carr who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2018.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 7.79%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.1%, 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, TRCPX's standard deviation comes in at 20.14%, compared to the category average of 16.06%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.67% compared to the category average of 14.08%. 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. TRCPX has a 5-year beta of 1.01, 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. TRCPX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -5.12, which means 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.

The mutual fund currently has 96.6% of its holdings in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $239.77 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Finance
2. Technology
3. Industrial Cyclical

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, TRCPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.55% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, TRCPX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, TIAA-CREF Large Cap Value Premier ( TRCPX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on TRCPXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.