There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is Janus Henderson Global Life Science T (JAGLX Quick QuoteJAGLX - Free Report) . JAGLX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

JAGLX finds itself in the Janus Fund family, based out of Boston, MA. Since Janus Henderson Global Life Science T made its debut in December of 1998, JAGLX has garnered more than $1.24 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Andrew Acker, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2007.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 14.06%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 12.96%, 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, JAGLX's standard deviation comes in at 17.34%, compared to the category average of 14.82%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.25% compared to the category average of 13.2%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.85, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 0.02. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, JAGLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.90% compared to the category average of 1.30%. So, JAGLX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Janus Henderson Global Life Science T ( JAGLX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

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