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Is Federated MDT Small Cap Growth Fund A (QASGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Federated MDT Small Cap Growth Fund A (QASGX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. QASGX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
QASGX finds itself in the Federated family, based out of Pittsburgh, PA. Since Federated MDT Small Cap Growth Fund A made its debut in September of 2005, QASGX has garnered more than $75.26 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 2.09%, 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 5.48%, 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, QASGX's standard deviation comes in at 22.26%, compared to the category average of 16.29%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 25.04% compared to the category average of 17.56%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.19, the fund is likely to be more volatile than 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. With a negative alpha of -8.79, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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.
The mutual fund currently has 89.3% of its holdings in stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Industrial Cyclical
Health
Other
With turnover at about 164%, this fund is making more trades in a given year than the average of 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, QASGX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.13% compared to the category average of 1.19%. So, QASGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,500, 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 weak performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Federated MDT Small Cap Growth Fund A ( QASGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about QASGX? 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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Is Federated MDT Small Cap Growth Fund A (QASGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Federated MDT Small Cap Growth Fund A (QASGX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. QASGX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
QASGX finds itself in the Federated family, based out of Pittsburgh, PA. Since Federated MDT Small Cap Growth Fund A made its debut in September of 2005, QASGX has garnered more than $75.26 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 2.09%, 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 5.48%, 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, QASGX's standard deviation comes in at 22.26%, compared to the category average of 16.29%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 25.04% compared to the category average of 17.56%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.19, the fund is likely to be more volatile than 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. With a negative alpha of -8.79, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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.
The mutual fund currently has 89.3% of its holdings in stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Industrial Cyclical
- Health
- Other
With turnover at about 164%, this fund is making more trades in a given year than the average of 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, QASGX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.13% compared to the category average of 1.19%. So, QASGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,500, 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 weak performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Federated MDT Small Cap Growth Fund A ( QASGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about QASGX? 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.