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Is JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A (VSCOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A (VSCOX - Free Report) is one possibility. VSCOX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

VSCOX finds itself in the J.P. Morgan family, based out of Boston, MA. The JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A made its debut in May of 1997 and VSCOX has managed to accumulate roughly $291.60 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Eytan Shapiro, has been in charge of the fund since September of 2004.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. VSCOX has a 5-year annualized total return of 17.09% and is 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 15.16%, 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. VSCOX's standard deviation over the past three years is 21.83% compared to the category average of 16.9%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 19.87% compared to the category average of 15.04%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.14, the fund 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. VSCOX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.08, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 89.89% of its holdings in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $4.15 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance
  2. Industrial Cyclical
  3. Health
  4. Technology
  5. Other
Turnover is 48%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, VSCOX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.08%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, VSCOX is actually more expensive than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A ( VSCOX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A ( VSCOX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about VSCOX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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