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Is Transamerica Capital Growth A (IALAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the All Cap Value category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Transamerica Capital Growth A (IALAX - Free Report) . IALAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify IALAX in the All Cap Value category, an area rife with potential choices. Like the name suggests, MUTUAL FUNDS invest in small, medium, and large-cap companies, though they end up focusing on bigger firms due to percentage of assets. These funds look for key value characteristics, targeting stocks that boast low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and whose share prices do not reflect their worth.
History of Fund/Manager
Transamerica is based in Clearwater, FL, and is the manager of IALAX. Transamerica Capital Growth A debuted in March of 1999. Since then, IALAX has accumulated assets of about $452.71 million, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. IALAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 15.91% 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 23.21%, 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 IALAX over the past three years is 15.99% compared to the category average of 9.82%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.01% compared to the category average of 10.14%. 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. In the most recent bear market, IALAX lost 55.53% and underperformed its peer group by 6.67%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.12, 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 3.96, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 92.14% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $159.50 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
Other
Turnover is 40%, 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, IALAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.19% compared to the category average of 1.06%. So, IALAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Transamerica Capital Growth A ( IALAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees compared to its peers.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the All Cap Value, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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 Transamerica Capital Growth A (IALAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the All Cap Value category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Transamerica Capital Growth A (IALAX - Free Report) . IALAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify IALAX in the All Cap Value category, an area rife with potential choices. Like the name suggests, MUTUAL FUNDS invest in small, medium, and large-cap companies, though they end up focusing on bigger firms due to percentage of assets. These funds look for key value characteristics, targeting stocks that boast low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and whose share prices do not reflect their worth.
History of Fund/Manager
Transamerica is based in Clearwater, FL, and is the manager of IALAX. Transamerica Capital Growth A debuted in March of 1999. Since then, IALAX has accumulated assets of about $452.71 million, according to the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. IALAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 15.91% 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 23.21%, 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 IALAX over the past three years is 15.99% compared to the category average of 9.82%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.01% compared to the category average of 10.14%. 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. In the most recent bear market, IALAX lost 55.53% and underperformed its peer group by 6.67%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.12, 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 3.96, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 92.14% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $159.50 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
- Other
Turnover is 40%, 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, IALAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.19% compared to the category average of 1.06%. So, IALAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Transamerica Capital Growth A ( IALAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees compared to its peers.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the All Cap Value, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.