Is Marsico MidCap Growth Focus (MXXIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
MXXIX is classified in the Large Cap Growth segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their stock market valuation is more than $10 billion. Large Cap Growth mutual funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers.
Marsico is responsible for MXXIX, and the company is based out of Denver, CO. Marsico MidCap Growth Focus made its debut in February of 2000, and since then, MXXIX has accumulated about $330.65 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. MXXIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 15.1% and it sits 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 15.44%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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, MXXIX's standard deviation comes in at 20.56%, compared to the category average of 17.98%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 20.76% compared to the category average of 19.12%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. MXXIX has a 5-year beta of 1.1, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. MXXIX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -1.02, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, MXXIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.40% compared to the category average of 1%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, MXXIX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Overall, even with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Marsico MidCap Growth Focus ( MXXIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Large Cap Growth funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare MXXIX to its peers as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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