Is JPMorgan Large Cap Growth A (OLGAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? JPMorgan Large Cap Growth A (OLGAX) is a potential starting point. OLGAX 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

OLGAX is a part of the J.P. Morgan family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. JPMorgan Large Cap Growth A made its debut in February of 1994, and since then, OLGAX has accumulated about $4.91 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. OLGAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 14.43% and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.67%, which places it in the middle 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, OLGAX's standard deviation comes in at 18.79%, compared to the category average of 15.22%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 21.32% compared to the category average of 16.04%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.05, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. OLGAX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 3, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, OLGAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.93% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, OLGAX is actually cheaper than its peers.