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Is T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Adviser (PAMCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, consider T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Adviser (PAMCX - Free Report) as a possibility. PAMCX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

PAMCX is a part of the T. Rowe Price family of funds, a company based out of Baltimore, MD. T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Adviser debuted in June of 1992. Since then, PAMCX has accumulated assets of about $237 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Brian W. H. Berghuis, has been in charge of the fund since June of 1992.

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 7.71%, 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 15.31%, 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 16.97%, the standard deviation of PAMCX over the past three years is 20.06%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.94% compared to the category average of 16.66%. 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 1.02, so it is likely going to be as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.07, which shows 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 91.15% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $22.53 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Industrial Cyclical
  • Health
This fund's turnover is about 21.4%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, PAMCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.02% compared to the category average of 1.15%. So, PAMCX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Adviser ( PAMCX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Adviser ( PAMCX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about PAMCX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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