If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, consider Hartford Small Company HLS IB (HDMBX Quick QuoteHDMBX - Free Report) as a possibility. HDMBX bears 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

HDMBX finds itself in the Hartford family, based out of Woodbury, MN. The Hartford Small Company HLS IB made its debut in October of 2002 and HDMBX has managed to accumulate roughly $37.91 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Ranjit Ramachandran who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2020.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. HDMBX has a 5-year annualized total return of 6.98% and it sits in the middle 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 13.88%, 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. Over the past three years, HDMBX's standard deviation comes in at 24.96%, compared to the category average of 21.94%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 25.28% compared to the category average of 19.67%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.17, 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 -4.19, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 96% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $4.55 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

• Health
• Technology
• Industrial Cyclical
• Non-Durable

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, HDMBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.04% compared to the category average of 1.19%. HDMBX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors should also note, that according to our data, the fund does not have any minimum investment requirements.

Bottom Line

Overall, Hartford Small Company HLS IB ( HDMBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great 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 HDMBX 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.