The mutual fund currently has 98.07% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $3.56 billion. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. DFSTX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -5.89, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.Įxploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. 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 a 5-year beta of 1.14, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 23.76% compared to the category average of 23.61%. The standard deviation of DFSTX over the past three years is 20.58% compared to the category average of 20.71%. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

Total returns do not reflect the fund's sale charge. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 17.57%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.27%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds.

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