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Is Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor (SWHGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor (SWHGX - Free Report) . SWHGX possesses 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
Schwab Funds is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of SWHGX. The Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor made its debut in November of 1995 and SWHGX has managed to accumulate roughly $982 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Zifan Tang, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2012.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.87%, and it sits in the middle 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 10.05%, 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. The standard deviation of SWHGX over the past three years is 15.23% compared to the category average of 15.46%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.62% compared to the category average of 13.53%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.81, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.89. This means that 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, SWHGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.39% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, SWHGX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor ( SWHGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor ( SWHGX ) 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. 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.
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Is Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor (SWHGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor (SWHGX - Free Report) . SWHGX possesses 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
Schwab Funds is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of SWHGX. The Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor made its debut in November of 1995 and SWHGX has managed to accumulate roughly $982 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Zifan Tang, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2012.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.87%, and it sits in the middle 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 10.05%, 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. The standard deviation of SWHGX over the past three years is 15.23% compared to the category average of 15.46%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.62% compared to the category average of 13.53%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.81, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.89. This means that 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, SWHGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.39% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, SWHGX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor ( SWHGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor ( SWHGX ) 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. 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.