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Is Janus Henderson Enterprise T (JAENX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mid Cap Growth fund? Starting with Janus Henderson Enterprise T (JAENX - Free Report) is one possibility. JAENX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes JAENX as Mid Cap Growth, a segment packed with options. Mid Cap Growth mutual funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. A firm is typically considered to be a growth stock if it consistently posts impressive sales and/or earnings growth.

History of Fund/Manager

Janus Fund is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of JAENX. The Janus Henderson Enterprise T made its debut in November of 1992 and JAENX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.36 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Brian Demain is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2007.

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 11.2%, and it sits 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 6.3%, 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. JAENX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.14% compared to the category average of 15.22%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 20.08% compared to the category average of 16.13%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.14, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 76.24% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $27.28 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Other
  • Finance
Turnover is about 14%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, JAENX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.90% compared to the category average of 0.97%. From a cost perspective, JAENX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Janus Henderson Enterprise T ( JAENX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Janus Henderson Enterprise T ( JAENX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on JAENXin the Mid Cap Growth 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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