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Is Cohen & Steers Realty Shares L (CSRSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Cohen & Steers Realty Shares L (CSRSX - Free Report) . CSRSX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Cohen & Steers is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of CSRSX. Cohen & Steers Realty Shares L made its debut in July of 1991, and since then, CSRSX has accumulated about $3.42 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.28%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.92%, which places it in the middle 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. Over the past three years, CSRSX's standard deviation comes in at 19.62%, compared to the category average of 15.48%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.52% compared to the category average of 16.11%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.87, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.73, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, CSRSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.88% compared to the category average of 1.18%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, CSRSX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $10,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Cohen & Steers Realty Shares L ( CSRSX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Cohen & Steers Realty Shares L ( CSRSX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about CSRSX? 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. 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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