Yahoo Finance Is Invesco Comstock A (ACSTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Invesco Comstock A (ACSTX) is one possibility. ACSTX carries 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
Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ACSTX. Invesco Comstock A debuted in October of 1968. Since then, ACSTX has accumulated assets of about $6.40 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 11.8%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 15.48%, which places it in the top 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 ACSTX over the past three years is 22.67% compared to the category average of 15.33%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.7% compared to the category average of 13.54%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. ACSTX has a 5-year beta of 1.11, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 -4.46. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 89.24% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $156.08 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Non-Durable
Technology
Energy
Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 19%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, ACSTX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 0.99%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, ACSTX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Invesco Comstock A ( ACSTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into ACSTX too for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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