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Is Franklin Income A1 (FKINX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find an Allocation Balanced fund could think about starting with Franklin Income A1 (FKINX - Free Report) . FKINX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FKINX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Franklin is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of FKINX. Since Franklin Income A1 made its debut in August of 1948, FKINX has garnered more than $30.23 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.35%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.54%, which places it in the top 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. Compared to the category average of 13.93%, the standard deviation of FKINX over the past three years is 10.62%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 11.67% compared to the category average of 14.96%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.57, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. FKINX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.51, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, FKINX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.61% compared to the category average of 0.94%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FKINX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Income A1 ( FKINX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin Income A1 ( FKINX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FKINX? 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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Is Franklin Income A1 (FKINX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find an Allocation Balanced fund could think about starting with Franklin Income A1 (FKINX - Free Report) . FKINX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FKINX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Franklin is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of FKINX. Since Franklin Income A1 made its debut in August of 1948, FKINX has garnered more than $30.23 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.35%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.54%, which places it in the top 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. Compared to the category average of 13.93%, the standard deviation of FKINX over the past three years is 10.62%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 11.67% compared to the category average of 14.96%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.57, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. FKINX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.51, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, FKINX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.61% compared to the category average of 0.94%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FKINX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Franklin Income A1 ( FKINX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin Income A1 ( FKINX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FKINX? 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.