Is Columbia Global Technology Growth A (CTCAX) A Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

If you have been looking for Sector - Tech funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Columbia Global Technology Growth A (CTCAX). CTCAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that CTCAX is a Sector - Tech option, and this area is loaded with many options. Found in a wide number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, and networking, tech companies are everywhere. Thus, Sector - Tech mutual funds that invest in technology let investors own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector, but with a much more diversifies approach.

History of Fund/Manager

Columbia is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of CTCAX. Columbia Global Technology Growth A made its debut in November of 2002, and since then, CTCAX has accumulated about $303.66 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Rahul Narang who has been in charge of the fund since July of 2012.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 17.58%, and is in the top 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 23.23%, 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 CTCAX over the past three years is 15.24% compared to the category average of 10.54%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.01% compared to the category average of 10.4%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In CTCAX's case, the fund lost 56.92% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 3.61%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.14, 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. With a positive alpha of 5.07, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 97.19% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $314.43 billion. This fund's turnover is about 28%, so the fund managers are making 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, CTCAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.25% compared to the category average of 1.31%. So, CTCAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Columbia Global Technology Growth A ( CTCAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

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. 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.