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Is Columbia Disciplined Core A (AQEAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Large Cap Blend fund category, Columbia Disciplined Core A (AQEAX - Free Report) could be a potential option. AQEAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that AQEAX is a Large Cap Blend option, an area loaded with different options. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Additionally, blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, giving investors exposure to value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
Columbia is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of AQEAX. The Columbia Disciplined Core A made its debut in December of 2004 and AQEAX has managed to accumulate roughly $4.31 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Raghavendran Sivaraman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2019.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 15.88%, 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 10.77%, 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, AQEAX's standard deviation comes in at 16.85%, compared to the category average of 14.66%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.84% compared to the category average of 15.93%. 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 0.99, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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. AQEAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.7, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, AQEAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.96% compared to the category average of 0.91%. So, AQEAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000, investors should also note that 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, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Columbia Disciplined Core A ( AQEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Blend, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.
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Is Columbia Disciplined Core A (AQEAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Large Cap Blend fund category, Columbia Disciplined Core A (AQEAX - Free Report) could be a potential option. AQEAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that AQEAX is a Large Cap Blend option, an area loaded with different options. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Additionally, blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, giving investors exposure to value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
Columbia is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of AQEAX. The Columbia Disciplined Core A made its debut in December of 2004 and AQEAX has managed to accumulate roughly $4.31 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Raghavendran Sivaraman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2019.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 15.88%, 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 10.77%, 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, AQEAX's standard deviation comes in at 16.85%, compared to the category average of 14.66%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.84% compared to the category average of 15.93%. 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 0.99, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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. AQEAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.7, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, AQEAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.96% compared to the category average of 0.91%. So, AQEAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000, investors should also note that 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, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Columbia Disciplined Core A ( AQEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Blend, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.