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Is Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund I (ALMRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund I (ALMRX - Free Report) as a possible option. ALMRX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

ALMRX finds itself in the Alger Funds family, based out of New York, NY. The Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund I made its debut in November of 1993 and ALMRX has managed to accumulate roughly $50.08 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Dan C. Chung, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2018.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.36%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.69%, 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 ALMRX over the past three years is 25.97% compared to the category average of 18.54%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 23.22% compared to the category average of 16.46%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.11, the fund is likely to be more volatile than 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.32. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 86.1% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $28.45 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Other
  3. Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 253.56%, so the fund managers are making more trades in a given year than the category average.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, ALMRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.44% compared to the category average of 1.14%. ALMRX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Alger Mid Cap Growth Institutional Fund I ( ALMRX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare ALMRX to its peers 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.


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