Looking for a Large Cap Growth fund? You may want to consider Harbor Capital Appreciation Retirement (HNACX Quick QuoteHNACX - Free Report) as a possible option. HNACX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

HNACX 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

Harbor Funds is based in Chicago, IL, and is the manager of HNACX. Since Harbor Capital Appreciation Retirement made its debut in March of 2016, HNACX has garnered more than $9.14 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. HNACX has a 5-year annualized total return of 15%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 30.55%, 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. HNACX's standard deviation over the past three years is 17.8% compared to the category average of 13.1%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 21.39% compared to the category average of 14.8%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.2, the fund is likely to be more 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -3.98. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 76.1% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $722.76 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

• Technology
• Retail Trade

This fund's turnover is about 30%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, HNACX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.59% compared to the category average of 0.94%. So, HNACX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1.00 million; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Harbor Capital Appreciation Retirement ( HNACX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Harbor Capital Appreciation Retirement ( HNACX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Growth, 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.