If you've been stuck searching for Large Cap Growth funds, you might want to consider passing on by American Century Select Investor (TWCIX) as a possibility. TWCIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

TWCIX is classified in the Large Cap Growth segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their stock market valuation is more than $10 billion. Large Cap Growth mutual funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers.

History of Fund/Manager

American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of TWCIX. Since American Century Select Investor made its debut in December of 1961, TWCIX has garnered more than $4.44 billion in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. TWCIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.89% and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.08%, 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 TWCIX over the past three years is 18.84% compared to the category average of 14.6%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.93% compared to the category average of 14.4%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.1, 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. TWCIX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.34, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, TWCIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 0.94%. From a cost perspective, TWCIX is actually cheaper than its peers.