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

If you've been stuck searching for Allocation Balanced funds, consider T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Income (PRSIX) as a possibility. PRSIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.ObjectivePRSIX is classified in the Allocation Balanced segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Here, investors are able to get a good head start with diversified mutual funds, and play around with core holding options for a portfolio of funds. Allocation Balanced funds look to invest across 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.History of Fund/ManagerT. Rowe Price is responsible for PRSIX, and the company is based out of Baltimore, MD. Since T. Rowe Price Personal Strategy Income made its debut in July of 1994, PRSIX has garnered more than $958.00 million in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.PerformanceOf course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.82%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.51%, 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. PRSIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 6.5% compared to the category average of 10.77%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 7.7% 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 0.45, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.14, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.ExpensesAs 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, PRSIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.38% compared to the category average of 0.83%. From a cost perspective, PRSIX is actually cheaper than its peers.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 Income ( PRSIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.Your research on the Allocation Balanced segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is HereThe AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. Little-known AI firms tackling the world's biggest problems may be more lucrative in the coming months and years.See "2nd Wave" AI stocks now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Get Your Free (PRSIX): Fund Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks