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Is Franklin Corefolio Allocation A (FTCOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find an Allocation Balanced fund might consider looking past Franklin Corefolio Allocation A (FTCOX - Free Report) . FTCOX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FTCOX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Franklin is responsible for FTCOX, and the company is based out of San Mateo, CA. Since Franklin Corefolio Allocation A made its debut in August of 2003, FTCOX has garnered more than $902.46 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FTCOX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.94% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of 16.74%, 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, FTCOX's standard deviation comes in at 16%, compared to the category average of 14.33%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.24% compared to the category average of 13.93%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.98, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. With a negative alpha of -3.76, 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, FTCOX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.39% compared to the category average of 0.97%. So, FTCOX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, 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, Franklin Corefolio Allocation A ( FTCOX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin Corefolio Allocation A ( FTCOX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FTCOXin the Allocation Balanced 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.
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Is Franklin Corefolio Allocation A (FTCOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find an Allocation Balanced fund might consider looking past Franklin Corefolio Allocation A (FTCOX - Free Report) . FTCOX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FTCOX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Franklin is responsible for FTCOX, and the company is based out of San Mateo, CA. Since Franklin Corefolio Allocation A made its debut in August of 2003, FTCOX has garnered more than $902.46 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FTCOX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.94% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of 16.74%, 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, FTCOX's standard deviation comes in at 16%, compared to the category average of 14.33%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.24% compared to the category average of 13.93%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.98, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. With a negative alpha of -3.76, 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, FTCOX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.39% compared to the category average of 0.97%. So, FTCOX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, 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, Franklin Corefolio Allocation A ( FTCOX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin Corefolio Allocation A ( FTCOX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FTCOXin the Allocation Balanced 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.