Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider American Funds Fundamentl Investors A (ANCFX Quick QuoteANCFX - Free Report) as a possible option. ANCFX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

ANCFX finds itself in the American Funds family, based out of Los Angeles, CA. American Funds Fundamentl Investors A debuted in July of 1978. Since then, ANCFX has accumulated assets of about $54.60 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.97%, and is in the bottom 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 5.39%, 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. Over the past three years, ANCFX's standard deviation comes in at 19.9%, compared to the category average of 16.64%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.69% compared to the category average of 14.65%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.96, the fund is likely to be less 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -3.58. This means that 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 90.86% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $252.77 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

1. Technology
2. Finance
3. Non-Durable
4. Industrial Cyclical

With turnover at about 30%, this fund is making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, ANCFX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.60% compared to the category average of 0.92%. So, ANCFX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $250, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Funds Fundamentl Investors A ( ANCFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds Fundamentl Investors A ( ANCFX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into ANCFX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.