Any investors hoping to find an Index fund could think about starting with T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth (TRSGX Quick QuoteTRSGX - Free Report) . TRSGX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (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 TRSGX. The T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth made its debut in July of 1994 and TRSGX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.39 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Charles Shriver is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2011.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. TRSGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.29% 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 2.21%, 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. Compared to the category average of 14.24%, the standard deviation of TRSGX over the past three years is 13.74%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 14.88% compared to the category average of 15.19%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.79, 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -4.34, which shows that 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, TRSGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.62% compared to the category average of 0.85%. So, TRSGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100

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 Personal Strategy Growth ( TRSGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Growth ( TRSGX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Index, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.