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Is American Funds Global Growth A (PGGAX) 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 American Funds Global Growth A (PGGAX - Free Report) . PGGAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of PGGAX. Since American Funds Global Growth A made its debut in May of 2012, PGGAX has garnered more than $2.73 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.55%, and is in the middle 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 2.85%, 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. PGGAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.41% compared to the category average of 14.54%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.14% compared to the category average of 15.51%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.97, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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 -3.67, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, PGGAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 1.10%. From a cost perspective, PGGAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $250; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds Global Growth A ( PGGAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds Global Growth A ( PGGAX ) looks like a somewhat weak 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 American Funds Global Growth A (PGGAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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 American Funds Global Growth A (PGGAX - Free Report) . PGGAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of PGGAX. Since American Funds Global Growth A made its debut in May of 2012, PGGAX has garnered more than $2.73 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.55%, and is in the middle 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 2.85%, 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. PGGAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.41% compared to the category average of 14.54%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.14% compared to the category average of 15.51%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.97, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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 -3.67, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, PGGAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 1.10%. From a cost perspective, PGGAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $250; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds Global Growth A ( PGGAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds Global Growth A ( PGGAX ) looks like a somewhat weak 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.