S&P Equity Picks T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock Fund Mutual Fund of the Month
NEW YORK, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's Equity Research has picked as its Mutual Fund of the Month for September T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock Fund (OTCFX, $27.16 at the close of August 31, 2010), at which date carried S&P Equity Research's highest mutual fund ranking of five star. Based on an evaluation of the fund's holdings, S&P classifies OTCFX as a Domestic Equity-Small Cap Core Fund, reflecting its blend of growth and value characteristics.
T. Rowe Price Small-Cap Stock Fund is managed by Gregory McCrickard, supported by a team of experienced in-house small-cap focused analysts, and employs a bottom-up, low turnover investment approach. Management looks for companies that, in its opinion, have financial strength and potential earnings catalysts such as new product introductions, management changes, or room for organic operating margin expansion. To be included in the portfolio, a stock typically has a market cap below $2.5 billion, but positions will be held as the company's size increases as long as the fundamentals remain intact, according to McCrickard. S&P Equity Research believes the fund is well diversified with more than 300 holdings at the end of June 2010 that have a mixture of growth and value characteristics. There is exposure to all 10 GICS sectors but the largest weightings were in Industrials, Financials, and Information Technology.
"In seeking out this month's Focus Fund, we searched for S&P five-star domestic small-cap funds that scored positively for performance analytics, risk considerations, and cost factors," said Todd Rosenbluth, S&P Mutual Fund Analyst. "We also looked for funds that outperformed both in 2009 and thus far in 2010."
To view a video of Mr. Rosenbluth discussing OTCFX, please paste the following link into your browser.
Standard & Poor's equity, Mutual Fund, ETF, and bond research can be found on MarketScope® Advisor. Click here for more information, which can also be obtained by calling 1-877-219-1247. MarketScope Advisor is part of the Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services family of products. MarketScope Advisor provides financial advisors with actionable investment intelligence on multiple asset classes including stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, variable annuities, fixed income, and workflow tools that enable advisors to stay connected to the market and their investments.
NOTE: The fund rankings in this release -- from five star (highest) to one star (lowest) -- are quantitatively derived from performance, holdings, risk, and expense analysis. S&P Equity Research's stock rankings or STARS -- using a scale of 5-STARS (Strong Buy) to 1-STARS (Strong Sell) -- are based on S&P equity analysts' qualitative and fundamentally driven outlooks for stocks over the next twelve months. S&P's views on mutual funds are constantly re-evaluated. Please refer to our most recent publication on this fund to see our current view.
This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or other financial instrument. Securities, financial instruments or strategies mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors.
About Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services
As the world's largest producer of independent equity research, Standard & Poor's licenses its research to global institutions for their investors and advisors. Standard & Poor's team of experienced U.S., European and Asian equity analysts use a fundamental, bottom-up approach to assess a global universe of multi-asset class securities across industries worldwide. Follow Standard & Poor's equity analysts' U.S. market commentary each day at http://www.equityresearch.standardandpoors.com/.
The equity research reports and recommendations provided by Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services are performed separately from any other analytic activity of Standard & Poor's. Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services has no access to non-public information received by other units of Standard & Poor's. Standard & Poor's does not trade for its own account. The analytical and ethical conduct of Standard & Poor's equity analysts is governed by the firm's Research Objectivity Policy, a copy of which may also be found at www.standardandpoors.com or by clicking here.
About Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's, a subsidiary of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With offices in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for nearly 150 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit www.standardandpoors.com.
SOURCE Standard & Poor's
WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?
Newsrooms &
Influencers
Digital Media
Outlets
Journalists
Opted In
Share this article