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Is T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth (TRSGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth (TRSGX - Free Report) . TRSGX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

TRSGX finds itself in the T. Rowe Price family, based out of Baltimore, MD. T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth made its debut in July of 1994, and since then, TRSGX has accumulated about $1.42 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Charles Shriver is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2011.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. TRSGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.21% and it sits 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 6.66%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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 TRSGX over the past three years is 14.35% compared to the category average of 17.17%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.11% compared to the category average of 15.13%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.79, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.63, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, TRSGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 0.79%. TRSGX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth ( TRSGX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak 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 TRSGX to its peers as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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