If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Baron Asset Fund Retail (BARAX Quick QuoteBARAX - Free Report) . BARAX carries 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

Baron is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of BARAX. Baron Asset Fund Retail debuted in June of 1987. Since then, BARAX has accumulated assets of about $2.08 billion, according to the most recently available information. Andrew Peck is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2003.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.34%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of -1.68%, 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, BARAX's standard deviation comes in at 20.72%, compared to the category average of 17.14%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 21.01% compared to the category average of 17.78%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as 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 -4.04, 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, BARAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.30% compared to the category average of 1%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BARAX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, 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, Baron Asset Fund Retail ( BARAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Baron Asset Fund Retail ( BARAX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

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