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Is Ivy Small Cap Growth Y (WSCYX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Ivy Small Cap Growth Y (WSCYX - Free Report) . WSCYX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Delaware Investments is responsible for WSCYX, and the company is based out of Philadelphia, PA. Since Ivy Small Cap Growth Y made its debut in December of 1995, WSCYX has garnered more than $79.20 million in assets. Timothy Miller is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2010.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.17%, and it sits in the bottom 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 4.41%, 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 18.29%, the standard deviation of WSCYX over the past three years is 25.02%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 22.99% compared to the category average of 16.13%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.09, so investors should note that 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. WSCYX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -4.33, which means 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.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 94.44% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $4.08 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Health
Industrial Cyclical
Other
This fund's turnover is about 40%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.
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, WSCYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.19%. So, WSCYX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Ivy Small Cap Growth Y ( WSCYX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Ivy Small Cap Growth Y ( WSCYX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on WSCYXin 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Ivy Small Cap Growth Y (WSCYX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Ivy Small Cap Growth Y (WSCYX - Free Report) . WSCYX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Delaware Investments is responsible for WSCYX, and the company is based out of Philadelphia, PA. Since Ivy Small Cap Growth Y made its debut in December of 1995, WSCYX has garnered more than $79.20 million in assets. Timothy Miller is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2010.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.17%, and it sits in the bottom 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 4.41%, 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 18.29%, the standard deviation of WSCYX over the past three years is 25.02%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 22.99% compared to the category average of 16.13%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.09, so investors should note that 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. WSCYX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -4.33, which means 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.
Currently, this mutual fund is holding 94.44% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $4.08 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Health
- Industrial Cyclical
- Other
This fund's turnover is about 40%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.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, WSCYX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.19%. So, WSCYX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Ivy Small Cap Growth Y ( WSCYX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Ivy Small Cap Growth Y ( WSCYX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on WSCYXin 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.