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Is ClearBridge Aggressive Growth A (SHRAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, it would not be wise to start your search with ClearBridge Aggressive Growth A (SHRAX - Free Report) . SHRAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Franklin is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of SHRAX. The ClearBridge Aggressive Growth A made its debut in October of 1983 and SHRAX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.95 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Evan Bauman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2009.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.23%, 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 8.53%, 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. Over the past three years, SHRAX's standard deviation comes in at 20.7%, compared to the category average of 17.77%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 20.22% compared to the category average of 15.72%. 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. SHRAX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. SHRAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -6.91, demonstrating that 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 91.83% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $104.33 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Health
  • Non-Durable
  • Industrial Cyclical
This fund's turnover is about 21%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.

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, SHRAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.12% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, SHRAX is actually more expensive than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, ClearBridge Aggressive Growth A ( SHRAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on SHRAXin 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. 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.


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