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Is Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund (MSEQX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund (MSEQX - Free Report) at this time. MSEQX 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
MSEQX is a part of the MorgStanley family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. The Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund made its debut in April of 1991 and MSEQX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.47 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.35%, 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 -8.77%, 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 18.29%, the standard deviation of MSEQX over the past three years is 34.53%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 31.89% compared to the category average of 16.11%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.2, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -5.77, which shows that 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, MSEQX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.64% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, MSEQX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1 million, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund ( MSEQX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund ( MSEQX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on MSEQXin 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund (MSEQX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund (MSEQX - Free Report) at this time. MSEQX 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
MSEQX is a part of the MorgStanley family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. The Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund made its debut in April of 1991 and MSEQX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.47 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.35%, 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 -8.77%, 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 18.29%, the standard deviation of MSEQX over the past three years is 34.53%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 31.89% compared to the category average of 16.11%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.2, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -5.77, which shows that 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, MSEQX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.64% compared to the category average of 0.99%. So, MSEQX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1 million, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund ( MSEQX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Morgan Stanley Institutional Fund ( MSEQX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on MSEQXin 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.