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Is Laudus US Large Cap Growth (LGILX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Large Cap Growth fund? Starting with Laudus US Large Cap Growth (LGILX - Free Report) is one possibility. LGILX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
LGILX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
Laudus is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of LGILX. The Laudus US Large Cap Growth made its debut in July of 2009 and LGILX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.74 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Lawrence G. Kemp is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 17.69%, and it sits in the top 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 17.32%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
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. The standard deviation of LGILX over the past three years is 13.26% compared to the category average of 11.42%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 12.24% compared to the category average of 10.92%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. LGILX has a 5-year beta of 1.1, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.3, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 90.53% of its holdings in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $218.75 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
This fund's turnover is about 73%, so the fund managers are making more trades per year than the comparable average.
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, LGILX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.76% compared to the category average of 1.12%. So, LGILX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Laudus US Large Cap Growth has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Laudus US Large Cap Growth looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on LGILXin 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. 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 Laudus US Large Cap Growth (LGILX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Large Cap Growth fund? Starting with Laudus US Large Cap Growth (LGILX - Free Report) is one possibility. LGILX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
LGILX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
Laudus is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of LGILX. The Laudus US Large Cap Growth made its debut in July of 2009 and LGILX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.74 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Lawrence G. Kemp is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 17.69%, and it sits in the top 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 17.32%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
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. The standard deviation of LGILX over the past three years is 13.26% compared to the category average of 11.42%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 12.24% compared to the category average of 10.92%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. LGILX has a 5-year beta of 1.1, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.3, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 90.53% of its holdings in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $218.75 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
This fund's turnover is about 73%, so the fund managers are making more trades per year than the comparable average.
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, LGILX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.76% compared to the category average of 1.12%. So, LGILX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Laudus US Large Cap Growth has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Laudus US Large Cap Growth looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on LGILXin 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. 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.