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Is Dreyfus Small Cap Stock Index Investor (DISSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you're looking for an Index fund category, then a possible option is Dreyfus Small Cap Stock Index Investor (DISSX - Free Report) . While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

DISSX is a part of the BNY Mellon family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. The Dreyfus Small Cap Stock Index Investor made its debut in June of 1997 and DISSX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.58 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 15.33%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 12.05%, which places it in the middle 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. Compared to the category average of 15.86%, the standard deviation of DISSX over the past three years is 26.11%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 21.67% compared to the category average of 13.19%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.25, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. DISSX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -4.27, 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, DISSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.50% compared to the category average of 0.79%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, DISSX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Don't stop here for your research on Index 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 DISSX to its peers 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.


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