Is Columbia Global Technology Growth Z (CMTFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Having trouble finding a Sector - Tech fund? Columbia Global Technology Growth Z (CMTFX) is a potential starting point. CMTFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and CMTFX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.

History of Fund/Manager

Columbia is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of CMTFX. Since Columbia Global Technology Growth Z made its debut in November of 2000, CMTFX has garnered more than $2.21 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Rahul Narang, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2012.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 16.71%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 28.42%, 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, CMTFX's standard deviation comes in at 21.24%, compared to the category average of 13.02%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 23.55% compared to the category average of 14.91%. 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 1.35, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.73. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, CMTFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.90% compared to the category average of 0.98%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, CMTFX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that 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.

Bottom Line

Overall, Columbia Global Technology Growth Z ( CMTFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Columbia Global Technology Growth Z ( CMTFX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

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