Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Eventide Gilead Fund N (ETGLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

If you have been looking for Mid Cap Growth funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Eventide Gilead Fund N (ETGLX - Free Report) . ETGLX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes ETGLX as Mid Cap Growth, a segment packed with options. Mid Cap Growth mutual funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. A firm is typically considered to be a growth stock if it consistently posts impressive sales and/or earnings growth.

History of Fund/Manager

ETGLX is a part of the Eventide family of funds, a company based out of Willow Grove, PA. Eventide Gilead Fund N made its debut in July of 2008, and since then, ETGLX has accumulated about $412.39 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Finny Kuruvilla who has been in charge of the fund since July of 2008.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 10.8%, and is 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 12.03%, 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. Over the past three years, ETGLX's standard deviation comes in at 16.18%, compared to the category average of 9.45%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.83% compared to the category average of 9.54%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment.

Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.22, which means it is hypothetically 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 -1.76, which shows 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 91.16% stock in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $16.84 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Other
  2. Technology
  3. Health
  4. Retail Trade
  5. Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 24%, which means this fund makes 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, ETGLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.39% compared to the category average of 1.21%. From a cost perspective, ETGLX is actually more expensive than its peers.

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.

Bottom Line

Overall, Eventide Gilead Fund N ( ETGLX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Mid Cap Growth 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. 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Eventide Gilead N (ETGLX) - free report >>

Published in