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Is American Funds EuroPacific Growth A (AEPGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Non US - Equity funds, it would not be wise to start your search with American Funds EuroPacific Growth A (AEPGX - Free Report) . AEPGX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AEPGX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too.
History of Fund/Manager
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of AEPGX. American Funds EuroPacific Growth A debuted in April of 1984. Since then, AEPGX has accumulated assets of about $21.06 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.29%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -2.03%, 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, AEPGX's standard deviation comes in at 17.84%, compared to the category average of 0%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.64% compared to the category average of 91%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.93, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. AEPGX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -6.43, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, AEPGX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.84% compared to the category average of 46%. So, AEPGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $250; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds EuroPacific Growth A ( AEPGX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about AEPGX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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Is American Funds EuroPacific Growth A (AEPGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Non US - Equity funds, it would not be wise to start your search with American Funds EuroPacific Growth A (AEPGX - Free Report) . AEPGX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
AEPGX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too.
History of Fund/Manager
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of AEPGX. American Funds EuroPacific Growth A debuted in April of 1984. Since then, AEPGX has accumulated assets of about $21.06 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.29%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -2.03%, 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, AEPGX's standard deviation comes in at 17.84%, compared to the category average of 0%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.64% compared to the category average of 91%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.93, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. AEPGX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -6.43, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, AEPGX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.84% compared to the category average of 46%. So, AEPGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $250; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds EuroPacific Growth A ( AEPGX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about AEPGX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.