Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Kinetics Small Cap Opportunity No Load (KSCOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Kinetics Small Cap Opportunity No Load (KSCOX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. KSCOX has 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

KSCOX is a part of the Kinetics family of funds, a company based out of Sleepy Hollow, NY. Kinetics Small Cap Opportunity No Load made its debut in February of 2003, and since then, KSCOX has accumulated about $186.40 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 19.29%, and it sits 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 17.52%, 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. KSCOX's standard deviation over the past three years is 36.51% compared to the category average of 17.76%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 30.16% compared to the category average of 15.96%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.28, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. KSCOX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 7.24, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, KSCOX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.64% compared to the category average of 1.20%. So, KSCOX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Kinetics Small Cap Opportunity No Load ( KSCOX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Kinetics Small Cap Opportunity No Load ( KSCOX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on KSCOXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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. 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Kinetics Small Cap Opport NL (KSCOX) - free report >>

Published in