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Is American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with American Century Mid Cap Value Investor (ACMVX). ACMVX bears 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

American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of ACMVX. American Century Mid Cap Value Investor debuted in March of 2004. Since then, ACMVX has accumulated assets of about $2.15 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. ACMVX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.43% and is in the middle 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 15.97%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.

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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 18.07%, the standard deviation of ACMVX over the past three years is 16.47%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.2% compared to the category average of 15.97%. 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. ACMVX has a 5-year beta of 0.94, which means it is likely to be less 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. ACMVX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.8, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining 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 92.86% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $23.40 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Finance

  • Industrial Cyclical

Turnover is about 50%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.

Expenses

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, ACMVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 1.08%. From a cost perspective, ACMVX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Century Mid Cap Value Investor ( ACMVX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Century Mid Cap Value Investor ( ACMVX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on ACMVXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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. 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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