Large Cap Growth fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Retail (BFTHX Quick QuoteBFTHX - Free Report) . BFTHX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

BFTHX is classified in the Large Cap Growth segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their stock market valuation is more than $10 billion. Large Cap Growth mutual funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers.

History of Fund/Manager

Baron is responsible for BFTHX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. Since Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Retail made its debut in May of 2004, BFTHX has garnered more than $132.30 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Alex Umansky, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2011.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. BFTHX has a 5-year annualized total return of 8.95% and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 22.1%, 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. Over the past three years, BFTHX's standard deviation comes in at 26.59%, compared to the category average of 15.72%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 26.33% compared to the category average of 15.67%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.33, so investors should note that 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. BFTHX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -8.15, demonstrating 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, BFTHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 0.94%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BFTHX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, 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, even with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Retail ( BFTHX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on BFTHXin the Large Cap Growth category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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.