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Is BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities A (BGSAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Sector - Tech fund might consider looking past BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities A (BGSAX - Free Report) . BGSAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
BGSAX is part of the Sector - Tech category, which boasts an array of different possible selections. With a much more diversified approach, Sector - Tech mutual funds give investors a way to own a stake in a notoriously risky sector. Tech companies are in various industries like semiconductors, software, internet, and networking, among others.
History of Fund/Manager
BGSAX finds itself in the BlackRock family, based out of New York, NY. BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities A debuted in May of 2000. Since then, BGSAX has accumulated assets of about $2.42 billion, according to the most recently available information. Tony Kim is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.1%, 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 33.92%, 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, BGSAX's standard deviation comes in at 20.34%, compared to the category average of 12.82%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 23.3% compared to the category average of 14.36%. 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 1.3, so it is likely going to be more volatile than 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -7.36, which shows that 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, BGSAX is a load fund and it has an expense ratio of 1.17%.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
As a mutual fund with a 'sell' rank, BGSAX is in the bottom 40% of all funds we cover and it may be one to avoid putting on your short list of possible picks in Sector - Tech. This fund from BlackRock needs to turn around some of its key fundamental metrics such as the Zacks Ranks of its holdings, alpha, and performance in order for investors to consider BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities A in the future.
This could just be the start of your research on BGSAX in the Sector - Tech 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities A (BGSAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Sector - Tech fund might consider looking past BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities A (BGSAX - Free Report) . BGSAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
BGSAX is part of the Sector - Tech category, which boasts an array of different possible selections. With a much more diversified approach, Sector - Tech mutual funds give investors a way to own a stake in a notoriously risky sector. Tech companies are in various industries like semiconductors, software, internet, and networking, among others.
History of Fund/Manager
BGSAX finds itself in the BlackRock family, based out of New York, NY. BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities A debuted in May of 2000. Since then, BGSAX has accumulated assets of about $2.42 billion, according to the most recently available information. Tony Kim is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.1%, 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 33.92%, 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, BGSAX's standard deviation comes in at 20.34%, compared to the category average of 12.82%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 23.3% compared to the category average of 14.36%. 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 1.3, so it is likely going to be more volatile than 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -7.36, which shows that 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, BGSAX is a load fund and it has an expense ratio of 1.17%.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
As a mutual fund with a 'sell' rank, BGSAX is in the bottom 40% of all funds we cover and it may be one to avoid putting on your short list of possible picks in Sector - Tech. This fund from BlackRock needs to turn around some of its key fundamental metrics such as the Zacks Ranks of its holdings, alpha, and performance in order for investors to consider BlackRock Science & Technology Opportunities A in the future.
This could just be the start of your research on BGSAX in the Sector - Tech 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.