Having trouble finding a Mid Cap Growth fund? T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Adviser (PAMCX Quick QuotePAMCX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. PAMCX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes PAMCX as Mid Cap Growth, a segment packed with options. Mid Cap Growth mutual funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. A firm is typically considered to be a growth stock if it consistently posts impressive sales and/or earnings growth.

History of Fund/Manager

PAMCX finds itself in the T. Rowe Price family, based out of Baltimore, MD. Since T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Adviser made its debut in June of 1992, PAMCX has garnered more than $223 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Brian W. H. Berghuis, has been in charge of the fund since June of 1992.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PAMCX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.99% 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 3.8%, 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. PAMCX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.63% compared to the category average of 15.8%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 20.06% compared to the category average of 16.68%. 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 1.04, which means 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -4.58, which shows that 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 76.54% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $27.41 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

• Technology
• Industrial Cyclical

With turnover at about 21.7%, this fund is making fewer trades than comparable funds.

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, PAMCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.01% compared to the category average of 0.98%. PAMCX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

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 similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Adviser ( PAMCX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mid Cap Growth area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into PAMCX too 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.