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There are plenty of choices in the Large Cap Blend category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is American Funds Cap Income Builder A (CAIBX). CAIBX 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 note that CAIBX is a Large Cap Blend option, an area loaded with different options. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Additionally, blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, giving investors exposure to value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
American Funds is responsible for CAIBX, and the company is based out of Los Angeles, CA. American Funds Cap Income Builder A made its debut in July of 1987, and since then, CAIBX has accumulated about $68.65 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.96%, and is in the bottom 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 6.33%, 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. The standard deviation of CAIBX over the past three years is 6.84% compared to the category average of 8.82%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 7.49% compared to the category average of 8.61%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, CAIBX lost 40.71% and underperformed its peer group by 8.96%. This means that the fund could possibly be a worse choice than its peers during a down market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.64, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.09, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.