Is Eventide Gilead Fund N (ETGLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Mid Cap Growth fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Eventide Gilead Fund N (ETGLX) at this time. ETGLX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes ETGLX as Mid Cap Growth, a segment packed with options. Mid Cap Growth mutual funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. A firm is typically considered to be a growth stock if it consistently posts impressive sales and/or earnings growth.

History of Fund/Manager

ETGLX finds itself in the Eventide family, based out of Willow Grove, PA. Eventide Gilead Fund N debuted in July of 2008. Since then, ETGLX has accumulated assets of about $303.72 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Finny Kuruvilla who has been in charge of the fund since July of 2008.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 2.12%, and is in the middle 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 11.11%, which places it in the top 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. ETGLX's standard deviation over the past three years is 21.03% compared to the category average of 12.72%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 21.21% compared to the category average of 14.6%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.13, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -9.71. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, ETGLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.35% compared to the category average of 0.96%. ETGLX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Eventide Gilead Fund N ( ETGLX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mid Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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