Yahoo Finance Is Wells Fargo Omega Growth A (EKOAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Wells Fargo Omega Growth A (EKOAX) should not be a possibility at this time. EKOAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Allspring is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of EKOAX. The Wells Fargo Omega Growth A made its debut in April of 1968 and EKOAX has managed to accumulate roughly $596.38 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Michael Smith is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. EKOAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 6.8% and it sits 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 2.6%, which places it in the bottom 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 EKOAX over the past three years is 25.98% compared to the category average of 18.45%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 22.45% compared to the category average of 16.18%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.11, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. EKOAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.76, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 84.33% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $270.25 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 21.55%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.
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, EKOAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.26% compared to the category average of 0.99%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, EKOAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wells Fargo Omega Growth A ( EKOAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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