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Is American Funds Washington Mutual Investors F (WSHFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with American Funds Washington Mutual Investors F (WSHFX - Free Report) . WSHFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of WSHFX. The American Funds Washington Mutual Investors F made its debut in July of 1952 and WSHFX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.09 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.58%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.12%, which places it in the top 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. The standard deviation of WSHFX over the past three years is 15.95% compared to the category average of 14.51%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.97% compared to the category average of 15.51%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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 -0.27, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, WSHFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 0.91%. So, WSHFX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $250 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds Washington Mutual Investors F ( WSHFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average 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 WSHFX too 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.
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Is American Funds Washington Mutual Investors F (WSHFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with American Funds Washington Mutual Investors F (WSHFX - Free Report) . WSHFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of WSHFX. The American Funds Washington Mutual Investors F made its debut in July of 1952 and WSHFX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.09 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.58%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 11.12%, which places it in the top 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. The standard deviation of WSHFX over the past three years is 15.95% compared to the category average of 14.51%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.97% compared to the category average of 15.51%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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 -0.27, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, WSHFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 0.91%. So, WSHFX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $250 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds Washington Mutual Investors F ( WSHFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average 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 WSHFX too 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.