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Is American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Mid Cap Value fund could think about starting with American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX - Free Report) . ACMVX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
ACMVX is one of many Mid Cap Value mutual funds to choose from. Mid Cap Value funds usually invest in companies with a stock market valuation between $2 billion and $10 billion; these medium-sized firms possess strong value and income opportunities for investors.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ACMVX. American Century Mid Cap Value Investor debuted in March of 2004. Since then, ACMVX has accumulated assets of about $2.71 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
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 8.37%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.34%, 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. The standard deviation of ACMVX over the past three years is 13.25% compared to the category average of 10.5%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.49% compared to the category average of 10.4%. 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. ACMVX lost 41.64% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 10%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
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. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.97. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, ACMVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.96% compared to the category average of 1.15%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, ACMVX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Mid Cap Value Investor ( ACMVX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mid Cap Value 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Mid Cap Value fund could think about starting with American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX - Free Report) . ACMVX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
ACMVX is one of many Mid Cap Value mutual funds to choose from. Mid Cap Value funds usually invest in companies with a stock market valuation between $2 billion and $10 billion; these medium-sized firms possess strong value and income opportunities for investors.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ACMVX. American Century Mid Cap Value Investor debuted in March of 2004. Since then, ACMVX has accumulated assets of about $2.71 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
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 8.37%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.34%, 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. The standard deviation of ACMVX over the past three years is 13.25% compared to the category average of 10.5%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.49% compared to the category average of 10.4%. 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. ACMVX lost 41.64% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 10%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
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. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.97. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, ACMVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.96% compared to the category average of 1.15%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, ACMVX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Mid Cap Value Investor ( ACMVX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mid Cap Value 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.