Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is American Funds EuroPacific Growth R6 (RERGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is American Funds EuroPacific Growth R6 (RERGX - Free Report) . RERGX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

RERGX finds itself in the American Funds family, based out of Los Angeles, CA. The American Funds EuroPacific Growth R6 made its debut in May of 2009 and RERGX has managed to accumulate roughly $79.15 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.24%, and is in the bottom 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 3.44%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.5%, the standard deviation of RERGX over the past three years is 19.29%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.13% compared to the category average of 13.85%. 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 0.88, 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. With a negative alpha of -7.25, 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, RERGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.46% compared to the category average of 1.15%. From a cost perspective, RERGX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $250; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Funds EuroPacific Growth R6 ( RERGX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds EuroPacific Growth R6 ( RERGX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


American Funds EuroPacific Gr R6 (RERGX) - free report >>

Published in