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Is Franklin DynaTech Advisor (FDYZX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Sector - Tech fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Franklin DynaTech Advisor (FDYZX - Free Report) . FDYZX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FDYZX is part of the Sector - Tech category, which boasts an array of different possible selections. With a much more diversified approach, Sector - Tech mutual funds give investors a way to own a stake in a notoriously risky sector. Tech companies are in various industries like semiconductors, software, internet, and networking, among others.

History of Fund/Manager

FDYZX finds itself in the Franklin family, based out of San Mateo, CA. Franklin DynaTech Advisor made its debut in November of 2010, and since then, FDYZX has accumulated about $3.55 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Rupert H. Johnson Jr.Has been in charge of the fund since November of 2010.

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 15.76%, and it sits 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 3.38%, 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. The standard deviation of FDYZX over the past three years is 24.51% compared to the category average of 15.71%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 23.7% compared to the category average of 16.48%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FDYZX has a 5-year beta of 1.13, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. FDYZX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.64, which means 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, FDYZX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.55% compared to the category average of 0.95%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FDYZX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; 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 DynaTech Advisor ( FDYZX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin DynaTech Advisor ( FDYZX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Sector - Tech 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 FDYZX 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.


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