Allocation Balanced fund seekers should consider taking a look at Schwab MarketTrack Allocation Equity Portfolio (SWEGX). SWEGX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
SWEGX is classified in the Allocation Balanced segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Here, investors are able to get a good head start with diversified mutual funds, and play around with core holding options for a portfolio of funds. Allocation Balanced funds look to invest across a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation.
Schwab Funds is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of SWEGX. Since Schwab MarketTrack Allocation Equity Portfolio made its debut in May of 1998, SWEGX has garnered more than $996.86 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund’s current manager.
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 13.42%, and is 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 13.58%, 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, SWEGX’s standard deviation comes in at 14.51%, compared to the category average of 11.73%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.5% compared to the category average of 11.08%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.92, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.14. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, SWEGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 0.70%. SWEGX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Overall, Schwab MarketTrack Allocation Equity Portfolio ( SWEGX ) 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.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Allocation Balanced, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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).