If you’re looking for an Allocation Balanced fund category, then a potential option is Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor (BIAFX). BIAFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Zacks’ Allocation Balanced funds is an area filled with options, such as BIAFX. These funds like to invest in a variety of asset types, finding a balance between stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes even precious metals and commodities; they are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. For investors, Allocation Balanced funds can provide an entry point into diversified mutual funds, and present core holding options for a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Brown Adv Fds is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of BIAFX. The Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor made its debut in December of 2006 and BIAFX has managed to accumulate roughly $542.24 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Maneesh Bajaj is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since October of 2017.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 15.54%, 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 8.51%, 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. The standard deviation of BIAFX over the past three years is 18.16% compared to the category average of 16.62%. The fund’s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.17% compared to the category average of 17.1%. 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. BIAFX has a 5-year beta of 1.04, which means it 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. With a positive alpha of 0.09, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, BIAFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.68% compared to the category average of 0.94%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BIAFX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Brown Advisory Flexible Equity Investor ( BIAFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Allocation Balanced segment doesn’t have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio – both funds and stocks – in the most efficient way possible.
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