If you've been stuck searching for Large Cap Growth funds, you might want to consider passing on by Franklin Growth A (FKGRX) as a possibility. FKGRX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

FKGRX 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.

FKGRX is a part of the Franklin family of funds, a company based out of San Mateo, CA. Franklin Growth A made its debut in March of 1948, and since then, FKGRX has accumulated about $12.58 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 13.1%, 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 18.02%, which places it in the bottom 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. FKGRX's standard deviation over the past three years is 16.92% compared to the category average of 15.07%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.81% compared to the category average of 14.72%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.07, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.68, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 77.49% of its holdings in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $364.45 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

Technology

Industrial Cyclical

Retail Trade

With turnover at about 8.82%, this fund makes fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, FKGRX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 0.94%. So, FKGRX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Overall, Franklin Growth A ( FKGRX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak 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 www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FKGRX to its peers as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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