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Is BlackRock Exchange BlackRock (STSEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? BlackRock Exchange BlackRock (STSEX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. STSEX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify STSEX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
STSEX is a part of the BlackRock family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. BlackRock Exchange BlackRock made its debut in May of 1986, and since then, STSEX has accumulated about $178.42 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Lawrence G. Kemp is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2013.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.48%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 12.76%, which places it in the bottom 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, STSEX's standard deviation comes in at 11.79%, compared to the category average of 13.54%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 11.48% compared to the category average of 13.3%. This makes the fund less 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. STSEX lost 45.56% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 3.3%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.9, which means it is hypothetically less 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 -1.09, 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 88.1% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $388.69 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Technology
Health
Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 0%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, STSEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 1.05%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, STSEX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, BlackRock Exchange BlackRock ( STSEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Your research on the Large 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.
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Is BlackRock Exchange BlackRock (STSEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? BlackRock Exchange BlackRock (STSEX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. STSEX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify STSEX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
STSEX is a part of the BlackRock family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. BlackRock Exchange BlackRock made its debut in May of 1986, and since then, STSEX has accumulated about $178.42 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Lawrence G. Kemp is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2013.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.48%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 12.76%, which places it in the bottom 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, STSEX's standard deviation comes in at 11.79%, compared to the category average of 13.54%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 11.48% compared to the category average of 13.3%. This makes the fund less 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. STSEX lost 45.56% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 3.3%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.9, which means it is hypothetically less 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 -1.09, 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 88.1% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $388.69 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Finance
- Technology
- Health
- Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 0%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, STSEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 1.05%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, STSEX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, BlackRock Exchange BlackRock ( STSEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Your research on the Large 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.