Is Invesco Equally-Weighted S&P 500 A (VADAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Invesco Equally-Weighted S&P 500 A (VADAX). VADAX 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

Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of VADAX. Since Invesco Equally-Weighted S&P 500 A made its debut in July of 1997, VADAX has garnered more than $3 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.68%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 15.3%, 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. VADAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.2% compared to the category average of 15.31%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.67% compared to the category average of 13.59%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.07, the fund 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. VADAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.55, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 95.18% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $78.75 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance

  2. Technology

  3. Industrial Cyclical

With turnover at about 23%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, VADAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.52% compared to the category average of 0.92%. So, VADAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Invesco Equally-Weighted S&P 500 A ( VADAX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about VADAX? 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. 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.


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