Is Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Equity Asset Allocation A (EAEAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Equity Asset Allocation A (EAEAX) as a possible option. EAEAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

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History of Fund/Manager

EAEAX is a part of the Eaton Vance family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. The Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Equity Asset Allocation A made its debut in March of 2002 and EAEAX has managed to accumulate roughly $405.23 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund’s current manager, Douglas R. Rogers, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2021.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.56%, and it sits 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 4.61%, 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. EAEAX’s standard deviation over the past three years is 20.63% compared to the category average of 18.2%. The fund’s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.01% compared to the category average of 15.89%. 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 0.95, which means it is hypothetically less 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. With a negative alpha of -2.3, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 90.4% stock in stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. With turnover at about 4%, this fund is 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, EAEAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.26% compared to the category average of 0.86%. From a cost perspective, EAEAX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Equity Asset Allocation A ( EAEAX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Eaton Vance Tax-Managed Equity Asset Allocation A ( EAEAX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio – both funds and stocks – in the most efficient way possible.

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