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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Franklin Income Adviser (FRIAX) is one possibility. FRIAX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Franklin Templeton is responsible for FRIAX, and the company is based out of San Mateo, CA. Franklin Income Adviser debuted in August of 1948. Since then, FRIAX has accumulated assets of about $12.82 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.6%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 9.09%, 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. Over the past three years, FRIAX's standard deviation comes in at 11.8%, compared to the category average of 14.5%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 10.47% compared to the category average of 12.94%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.56, so it is likely going to be 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.3. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, FRIAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.46% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, FRIAX 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.