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Is Columbia Global Technology Growth Z (CMTFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Have you been searching for a Sector - Tech fund? You might want to begin with Columbia Global Technology Growth Z (CMTFX - Free Report) . CMTFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and CMTFX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
Columbia is responsible for CMTFX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Since Columbia Global Technology Growth Z made its debut in November of 2000, CMTFX has garnered more than $713.52 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Rahul Narang who has been in charge of the fund since July of 2012.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 20.13%, and it sits 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 25.19%, 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 CMTFX over the past three years is 15.83% compared to the category average of 10.8%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.6% compared to the category average of 10.91%. 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. In the most recent bear market, CMTFX lost 56.84% and underperformed its peer group by 4%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.15, so it is likely going to be more volatile than 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. With a positive alpha of 6.8, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 92.9% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $250.10 billion. This fund's turnover is about 52%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, CMTFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.99% compared to the category average of 1.30%. So, CMTFX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Columbia Global Technology Growth Z ( CMTFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Columbia Global Technology Growth Z ( CMTFX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Tech 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 CMTFX too 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 Columbia Global Technology Growth Z (CMTFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Have you been searching for a Sector - Tech fund? You might want to begin with Columbia Global Technology Growth Z (CMTFX - Free Report) . CMTFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and CMTFX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
Columbia is responsible for CMTFX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Since Columbia Global Technology Growth Z made its debut in November of 2000, CMTFX has garnered more than $713.52 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Rahul Narang who has been in charge of the fund since July of 2012.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 20.13%, and it sits 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 25.19%, 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 CMTFX over the past three years is 15.83% compared to the category average of 10.8%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.6% compared to the category average of 10.91%. 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. In the most recent bear market, CMTFX lost 56.84% and underperformed its peer group by 4%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.15, so it is likely going to be more volatile than 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. With a positive alpha of 6.8, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 92.9% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $250.10 billion. This fund's turnover is about 52%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, CMTFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.99% compared to the category average of 1.30%. So, CMTFX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Columbia Global Technology Growth Z ( CMTFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Columbia Global Technology Growth Z ( CMTFX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Tech 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 CMTFX too 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.