Is Diamond Hill Large Cap Fund A (DHLAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

If you have been looking for Large Cap Blend fund category, a potential starting could be Diamond Hill Large Cap Fund A (DHLAX). DHLAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

DHLAX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a ” buy and hold ” mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.

DHLAX finds itself in the Diamond Hill family, based out of Columbus, OH. The Diamond Hill Large Cap Fund A made its debut in July of 2001 and DHLAX has managed to accumulate roughly $294 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Austin Hawley is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since February of 2015.

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 15.6%, and it sits 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 4.68%, 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. The standard deviation of DHLAX over the past three years is 17.85% compared to the category average of 14.88%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.53% compared to the category average of 16.12%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a 5-year beta of 0.95, the fund is likely to be less 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 negative alpha of -1.64, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.