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Is BlackRock Exchange BlackRock (STSEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Large Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is BlackRock Exchange BlackRock (STSEX - Free Report) . STSEX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
STSEX 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
BlackRock is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of STSEX. The BlackRock Exchange BlackRock made its debut in May of 1986 and STSEX has managed to accumulate roughly $293.99 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Sally Du is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2025.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.51%, and is in the top 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 17.13%, which places it in the bottom 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. The standard deviation of STSEX over the past three years is 9.92% compared to the category average of 12.68%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.05% compared to the category average of 15.46%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.71, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. STSEX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.99, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, STSEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.88% compared to the category average of 0.71%. STSEX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; 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, BlackRock Exchange BlackRock ( STSEX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, BlackRock Exchange BlackRock ( STSEX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Large Cap Growth area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into STSEX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is BlackRock Exchange BlackRock (STSEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Large Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is BlackRock Exchange BlackRock (STSEX - Free Report) . STSEX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
STSEX 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
BlackRock is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of STSEX. The BlackRock Exchange BlackRock made its debut in May of 1986 and STSEX has managed to accumulate roughly $293.99 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Sally Du is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2025.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.51%, and is in the top 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 17.13%, which places it in the bottom 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. The standard deviation of STSEX over the past three years is 9.92% compared to the category average of 12.68%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.05% compared to the category average of 15.46%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.71, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. STSEX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.99, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, STSEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.88% compared to the category average of 0.71%. STSEX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; 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, BlackRock Exchange BlackRock ( STSEX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, BlackRock Exchange BlackRock ( STSEX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Large Cap Growth area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into STSEX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.