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Is Putnam Growth Opportunities A (POGAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, a place to start could be Putnam Growth Opportunities A (POGAX - Free Report) . POGAX possesses 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
POGAX finds itself in the Putnam Funds family, based out of Canton, MA. The Putnam Growth Opportunities A made its debut in October of 1995 and POGAX has managed to accumulate roughly $5.30 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Richard Bodzy is the fund's current manager and has held that role since August of 2017.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. POGAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.04% and is in the top 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 10.69%, 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 POGAX over the past three years is 21.8% compared to the category average of 16.4%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 20.47% compared to the category average of 16.01%. 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. POGAX has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.51. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 90.08% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $366.64 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 34%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, POGAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.46% compared to the category average of 0.99%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, POGAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Putnam Growth Opportunities A ( POGAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential 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. 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 Putnam Growth Opportunities A (POGAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, a place to start could be Putnam Growth Opportunities A (POGAX - Free Report) . POGAX possesses 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
POGAX finds itself in the Putnam Funds family, based out of Canton, MA. The Putnam Growth Opportunities A made its debut in October of 1995 and POGAX has managed to accumulate roughly $5.30 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Richard Bodzy is the fund's current manager and has held that role since August of 2017.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. POGAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.04% and is in the top 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 10.69%, 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 POGAX over the past three years is 21.8% compared to the category average of 16.4%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 20.47% compared to the category average of 16.01%. 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. POGAX has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.51. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 90.08% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $366.64 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 34%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.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, POGAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.46% compared to the category average of 0.99%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, POGAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Putnam Growth Opportunities A ( POGAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential 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. 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.