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Is TIAA-CREF Growth & Income Retail (TIIRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should not consider taking a look at TIAA-CREF Growth & Income Retail (TIIRX - Free Report) at this time. TIIRX carries 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
TIIRX is a part of the TIAA-CREF family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. TIAA-CREF Growth & Income Retail debuted in March of 2006. Since then, TIIRX has accumulated assets of about $1.41 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Susan Kempler who has been in charge of the fund since March of 2006.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.73%, and is in the bottom 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 9.81%, which places it in the bottom 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. TIIRX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.14% compared to the category average of 16.26%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.34% compared to the category average of 14.49%. 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 1.03, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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 -2.15, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 99.17% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $388.17 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
With turnover at about 76%, this fund makes more traders than comparable funds in a given year.
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, TIIRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.56% compared to the category average of 0.99%. TIIRX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, TIAA-CREF Growth & Income Retail ( TIIRX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak 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 TIAA-CREF Growth & Income Retail (TIIRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should not consider taking a look at TIAA-CREF Growth & Income Retail (TIIRX - Free Report) at this time. TIIRX carries 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
TIIRX is a part of the TIAA-CREF family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. TIAA-CREF Growth & Income Retail debuted in March of 2006. Since then, TIIRX has accumulated assets of about $1.41 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Susan Kempler who has been in charge of the fund since March of 2006.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.73%, and is in the bottom 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 9.81%, which places it in the bottom 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. TIIRX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.14% compared to the category average of 16.26%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.34% compared to the category average of 14.49%. 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 1.03, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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 -2.15, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 99.17% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $388.17 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
With turnover at about 76%, this fund makes more traders than comparable funds in a given year.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, TIIRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.56% compared to the category average of 0.99%. TIIRX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, TIAA-CREF Growth & Income Retail ( TIIRX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak 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.