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Is Hartford Capital Appreciation A (ITHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, you might want to consider passing on by Hartford Capital Appreciation A (ITHAX - Free Report) as a possibility. ITHAX possesses 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
Hartford is based in Woodbury, MN, and is the manager of ITHAX. Hartford Capital Appreciation A made its debut in July of 1996, and since then, ITHAX has accumulated about $4.42 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Gregg Thomas is the fund's current manager and has held that role since March of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.68%, and it sits in the bottom 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 10.24%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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. ITHAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 17.83% compared to the category average of 14.82%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.09% compared to the category average of 15.59%. 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. ITHAX has a 5-year beta of 0.99, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -3.07. This means that 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 90% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $153.02 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Non-Durable
Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 82%, which means this fund makes more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, ITHAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.04% compared to the category average of 0.91%. From a cost perspective, ITHAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Hartford Capital Appreciation A ( ITHAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Hartford Capital Appreciation A ( ITHAX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on ITHAXin 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. 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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Is Hartford Capital Appreciation A (ITHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, you might want to consider passing on by Hartford Capital Appreciation A (ITHAX - Free Report) as a possibility. ITHAX possesses 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
Hartford is based in Woodbury, MN, and is the manager of ITHAX. Hartford Capital Appreciation A made its debut in July of 1996, and since then, ITHAX has accumulated about $4.42 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Gregg Thomas is the fund's current manager and has held that role since March of 2013.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.68%, and it sits in the bottom 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 10.24%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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. ITHAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 17.83% compared to the category average of 14.82%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.09% compared to the category average of 15.59%. 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. ITHAX has a 5-year beta of 0.99, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -3.07. This means that 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 90% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $153.02 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Non-Durable
- Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 82%, which means this fund makes more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, ITHAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.04% compared to the category average of 0.91%. From a cost perspective, ITHAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Hartford Capital Appreciation A ( ITHAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Hartford Capital Appreciation A ( ITHAX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on ITHAXin 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. 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.