Yahoo Finance Is American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Mid Cap Value funds, it would not be wise to start your search with American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX). ACMVX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
ACMVX is one of many Mid Cap Value mutual funds to choose from. Mid Cap Value funds usually invest in companies with a stock market valuation between $2 billion and $10 billion; these medium-sized firms possess strong value and income opportunities for investors.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ACMVX. Since American Century Mid Cap Value Investor made its debut in March of 2004, ACMVX has garnered more than $1.68 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.54%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 4.22%, which places it in the bottom 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. Compared to the category average of 14.74%, the standard deviation of ACMVX over the past three years is 16.03%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.36% compared to the category average of 15.98%. 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 0.9, 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -4.02, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, ACMVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.98% compared to the category average of 0.96%. From a cost perspective, ACMVX is actually more expensive than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Mid Cap Value Investor ( ACMVX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, American Century Mid Cap Value Investor ( ACMVX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on ACMVXin the Mid Cap Value category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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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