Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Growth (TRLGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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

Objective

TRLGX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is responsible for TRLGX, and the company is based out of Baltimore, MD. The T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Growth made its debut in October of 2001 and TRLGX has managed to accumulate roughly $18.63 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Taymour Tamaddon is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2017.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 16.89%, 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 5.41%, 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, TRLGX's standard deviation comes in at 20.73%, compared to the category average of 0%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.4% compared to the category average of 32%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.05, so it is likely going to be 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. TRLGX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.6, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, TRLGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.56% compared to the category average of 63%. From a cost perspective, TRLGX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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, T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Growth ( TRLGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Institutional Large Cap Growth ( TRLGX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Large 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 TRLGX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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


T. Rowe Price Large Cap Growth I (TRLGX) - free report >>

Published in