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Is American Funds Investor Company of America A (AIVSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Have you been searching for a Large Cap Blend fund? You might want to begin with American Funds Investor Company of America A (AIVSX - Free Report) . AIVSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AIVSX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.
History of Fund/Manager
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of AIVSX. The American Funds Investor Company of America A made its debut in December of 1933 and AIVSX has managed to accumulate roughly $63.64 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.01%, 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 9.39%, which places it in the middle 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. Over the past three years, AIVSX's standard deviation comes in at 10.4%, compared to the category average of 8.86%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.86% compared to the category average of 8.77%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. AIVSX lost 47.16% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 2.64%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.97, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.42. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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.
This fund is currently holding about 95.58% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $173.46 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Other
Non-Durable
Industrial Cyclical
Finance
With turnover at about 28%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
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, AIVSX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 1.00%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, AIVSX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $250, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds Investor Company of America A has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Large Cap Blend segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is American Funds Investor Company of America A (AIVSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Have you been searching for a Large Cap Blend fund? You might want to begin with American Funds Investor Company of America A (AIVSX - Free Report) . AIVSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AIVSX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.
History of Fund/Manager
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of AIVSX. The American Funds Investor Company of America A made its debut in December of 1933 and AIVSX has managed to accumulate roughly $63.64 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.01%, 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 9.39%, which places it in the middle 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. Over the past three years, AIVSX's standard deviation comes in at 10.4%, compared to the category average of 8.86%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.86% compared to the category average of 8.77%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. AIVSX lost 47.16% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 2.64%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.97, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.42. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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.
This fund is currently holding about 95.58% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $173.46 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
With turnover at about 28%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
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, AIVSX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.57% compared to the category average of 1.00%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, AIVSX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $250, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds Investor Company of America A has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Large Cap Blend segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.