Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is John Hancock2 Capital Appreciation 1 (JICPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a potential option is John Hancock2 Capital Appreciation 1 (JICPX - Free Report) . JICPX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

John Hancock is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of JICPX. John Hancock2 Capital Appreciation 1 debuted in October of 2005. Since then, JICPX has accumulated assets of about $539.64 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. JICPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.44% and is in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 9.02%, 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 20.57%, the standard deviation of JICPX over the past three years is 25.39%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 24.06% compared to the category average of 18.14%. 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. JICPX has a 5-year beta of 1.16, which means it is likely to be more 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. JICPX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.12, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating 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.

This fund is currently holding about 91.65% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $356.93 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Retail Trade
Turnover is about 36%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, JICPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, JICPX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, John Hancock2 Capital Appreciation 1 ( JICPX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


JHancock Capital App 1 (JICPX) - free report >>

Published in