Is T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Balanced (TRPBX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Allocation Balanced fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Balanced (TRPBX). TRPBX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.ObjectiveTRPBX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.History of Fund/ManagerT. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of TRPBX. Since T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Balanced made its debut in June of 1994, TRPBX has garnered more than $938.00 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.PerformanceOf course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.44%, and it sits 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 11.94%, which places it in the middle 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. Over the past three years, TRPBX's standard deviation comes in at 8.01%, compared to the category average of 10.56%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.64% compared to the category average of 12.1%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.Risk FactorsInvestors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.6, 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.73, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.ExpensesCosts are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, TRPBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.54% compared to the category average of 0.83%. So, TRPBX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.Bottom LineOverall, T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Balanced ( TRPBX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Balanced ( TRPBX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.Don't stop here for your research on Allocation Balanced funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare TRPBX to its peers as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the months ahead. 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