Index fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund (GASFX Quick QuoteGASFX - Free Report) at this time. GASFX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Hennessy is based in Novato, CA, and is the manager of GASFX. The Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund made its debut in May of 1989 and GASFX has managed to accumulate roughly $503.02 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Ryan Kelley is the fund's current manager and has held that role since March of 2013.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.59%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.75%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

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. The standard deviation of GASFX over the past three years is 14.81% compared to the category average of 14.54%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.02% compared to the category average of 12.69%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.55, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. GASFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.01, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, GASFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 0.81%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, GASFX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund ( GASFX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund ( GASFX ) looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on GASFXin the Index category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank 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.