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Is T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth I (TBCIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth I (TBCIX - Free Report) . TBCIX has 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

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of TBCIX. The T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth I made its debut in December of 2015 and TBCIX has managed to accumulate roughly $24.66 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Paul Greene who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2021.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 11%, 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 2.41%, 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. Over the past three years, TBCIX's standard deviation comes in at 22.09%, compared to the category average of 15.85%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 21.97% compared to the category average of 16.42%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.06, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. TBCIX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -1.46, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 83.13% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks and it has 4.55% of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Retail Trade
  • Finance
With turnover at about 14.2%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, TBCIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.58% compared to the category average of 0.96%. TBCIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $500,000, 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, even with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Blue Chip Growth I ( TBCIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about TBCIX? 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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