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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor (SWHGX). SWHGX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Schwab Funds is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of SWHGX. Schwab MarketTrack Growth Investor made its debut in November of 1995, and since then, SWHGX has accumulated about $801.91 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Zifan Tang is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2012.
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 5.52%, and it sits in the top 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 8.69%, 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. SWHGX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.81% compared to the category average of 17.2%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.66% compared to the category average of 15.16%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.82, so it is likely going to be 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. SWHGX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.61, demonstrating 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, SWHGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.39% compared to the category average of 0.86%. So, SWHGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.