We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is Permanent Portfolio Permanent I (PRPFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Permanent Portfolio Permanent I (PRPFX - Free Report) is one possibility. PRPFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
PRPFX finds itself in the Permanent family, based out of San Francisco, CA. Permanent Portfolio Permanent I debuted in December of 1982. Since then, PRPFX has accumulated assets of about $2.84 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Michael J. Cuggino, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2003.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.42%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.59%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.69%, the standard deviation of PRPFX over the past three years is 13.5%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 11.5% compared to the category average of 13.67%. This makes the fund less 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. PRPFX has a 5-year beta of 0.55, which means it 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.39, which shows 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, PRPFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.81% compared to the category average of 0.86%. So, PRPFX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Permanent Portfolio Permanent I ( PRPFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential 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 PRPFX too for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is Permanent Portfolio Permanent I (PRPFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Permanent Portfolio Permanent I (PRPFX - Free Report) is one possibility. PRPFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
PRPFX finds itself in the Permanent family, based out of San Francisco, CA. Permanent Portfolio Permanent I debuted in December of 1982. Since then, PRPFX has accumulated assets of about $2.84 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Michael J. Cuggino, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2003.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.42%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.59%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.69%, the standard deviation of PRPFX over the past three years is 13.5%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 11.5% compared to the category average of 13.67%. This makes the fund less 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. PRPFX has a 5-year beta of 0.55, which means it 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.39, which shows 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, PRPFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.81% compared to the category average of 0.86%. So, PRPFX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Permanent Portfolio Permanent I ( PRPFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential 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 PRPFX too for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.