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Is ProFunds UltraEmerging Markets Investor (UUPIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Well, ProFunds UltraEmerging Markets Investor (UUPIX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. UUPIX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

ProFunds is based in Columbus, OH, and is the manager of UUPIX. The ProFunds UltraEmerging Markets Investor made its debut in April of 2006 and UUPIX has managed to accumulate roughly $5.66 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Alexander Ilyasov who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2020.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -8.88%, and it sits 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 7.62%, 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 30.09%, the standard deviation of UUPIX over the past three years is 51.18%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 47.75% compared to the category average of 26.75%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.66, 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. With a negative alpha of -16.46, 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, UUPIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.92% compared to the category average of 1.13%. So, UUPIX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $15,000, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, ProFunds UltraEmerging Markets Investor ( UUPIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak 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 UUPIX 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.


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