Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is American Funds Investor Company of America A (AIVSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, a place to start could be American Funds Investor Company of America A (AIVSX - Free Report) . AIVSX has 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

AIVSX finds itself in the American Funds family, based out of Los Angeles, CA. Since American Funds Investor Company of America A made its debut in December of 1933, AIVSX has garnered more than $73.15 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.56%, 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 10.49%, 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. AIVSX's standard deviation over the past three years is 16.51% compared to the category average of 14.52%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.18% compared to the category average of 15.52%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.91, which means 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.58. This means 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, AIVSX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 0.91%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, AIVSX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $250, and each subsequent investment should 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 Investor Company of America A ( AIVSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds Investor Company of America A ( AIVSX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about AIVSX? 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


THE INVEST COMPANY OF AMERICA (AIVSX) - free report >>

Published in