If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Royce Global Financial Services Service Class (RYFSX Quick QuoteRYFSX - Free Report) . RYFSX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Royce Funds is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of RYFSX. The Royce Global Financial Services Service Class made its debut in January of 2004 and RYFSX has managed to accumulate roughly $28.23 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Charles M. Royce, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2004.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.7%, and is in the top 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 14.99%, 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. Over the past three years, RYFSX's standard deviation comes in at 22.75%, compared to the category average of 21.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.6% compared to the category average of 17.44%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. RYFSX has a 5-year beta of 1.09, which means it is likely to be more 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -5.32. This means that 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, RYFSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.49% compared to the category average of 1.52%. RYFSX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Royce Global Financial Services Service Class ( RYFSX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Royce Global Financial Services Service Class ( RYFSX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into RYFSX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.