Fund Evaluator:

BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor Overview

BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor (DGAGX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Growth fund. BNY Mellon launched the fund in 1984.

The investment seeks long-term capital growth consistent with the preservation of capital; its secondary goal is current income. The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus any borrowings for investment purposes, in common stocks. It focuses on "blue chip" companies with total market capitalizations of more than $5 billion at the time of purchase, including multinational companies. In addition to direct investments, the fund may invest in securities of foreign companies in the form of U.S. dollar-denominated American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).

About BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor (DGAGX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 18.34 years: Catherine Crain (2000), Christopher Sarofim (2000), Alan Christensen (2020), W. Gentry Lee (2010). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100%. BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor has 45 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 57.2% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor has 14.2% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 85.2%. There is 14.2% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor has 0.6% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $1 billion in total assets, which is below the $2 billion average for the Large Growth category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

DGAGX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Large Growth category. BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor has an expense ratio of 0.88%, which is 8% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor has a portfolio turnover rate of 13%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 54% for the Large Growth category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor returned -3.3%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Large Growth category had an average return of -1.3%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor has a trailing yield of 0.25%, which is above the 0.06% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

BNY Mellon Appreciation Investor Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 1.5%, 5.6 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 6.2% over the past year (grade of F), 10.1% over the past three years (grade of F) and 6.8% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 12.5% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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