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Is Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund might consider looking past Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX - Free Report) . DLHAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Delaware Investments is based in Philadelphia, PA, and is the manager of DLHAX. Since Delaware Healthcare A made its debut in September of 2007, DLHAX has garnered more than $218.56 million in assets. Liu Er Chen is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 2007.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.73%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.15%, which places it in the bottom 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 17.66%, the standard deviation of DLHAX over the past three years is 16.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.15% compared to the category average of 16.02%. This makes the fund more 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. DLHAX has a 5-year beta of 0.7, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. DLHAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.28, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, DLHAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.29%. DLHAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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, Delaware Healthcare A ( DLHAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on DLHAXin 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. 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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Is Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund might consider looking past Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX - Free Report) . DLHAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Delaware Investments is based in Philadelphia, PA, and is the manager of DLHAX. Since Delaware Healthcare A made its debut in September of 2007, DLHAX has garnered more than $218.56 million in assets. Liu Er Chen is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 2007.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.73%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.15%, which places it in the bottom 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 17.66%, the standard deviation of DLHAX over the past three years is 16.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.15% compared to the category average of 16.02%. This makes the fund more 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. DLHAX has a 5-year beta of 0.7, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. DLHAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.28, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, DLHAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.29%. DLHAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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, Delaware Healthcare A ( DLHAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on DLHAXin 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.