Is Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Retail (BFTHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

If you have been looking for Large Cap Growth funds, a place to start could be Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Retail (BFTHX). BFTHX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

BFTHX is classified in the Large Cap Growth segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their stock market valuation is more than $10 billion. Large Cap Growth mutual funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers.

History of Fund/Manager

Baron is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of BFTHX. Since Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Retail made its debut in May of 2004, BFTHX has garnered more than $176.90 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Alex Umansky, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2011.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 24.2%, and it sits in the top 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 22.58%, which places it in the top 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 BFTHX over the past three years is 20.35% compared to the category average of 16.63%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.32% compared to the category average of 13.73%. 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. BFTHX has a 5-year beta of 0.94, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. With a positive alpha of 7.41, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, BFTHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 1.02%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, BFTHX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Retail ( BFTHX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Baron Fifth Avenue Growth Retail ( BFTHX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Large Cap Growth funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Written By: Zacks Investment Research