If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Health funds, you might want to consider passing on by Putnam Global Health Care M as a possibility. PHLMX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes PHLMX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
PHLMX is a part of the Putnam Funds family of funds, a company based out of Canton, MA. Since Putnam Global Health Care M made its debut in May of 1982, PHLMX has garnered more than $11.12 million in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PHLMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.25% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 3.04%, which places it in the top 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. PHLMX's standard deviation over the past three years is 13.04% compared to the category average of 10.13%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 12.81% compared to the category average of 9.81%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. PHLMX lost 28.07% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 4.81%. These results could imply that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.98, the fund 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. PHLMX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.27, demonstrating that 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, PHLMX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.58% compared to the category average of 1.31%. From a cost perspective, PHLMX is actually more expensive than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Putnam Global Health Care M ( PHLMX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Health, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Putnam Global Health Care M (PHLMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Health funds, you might want to consider passing on by Putnam Global Health Care M as a possibility. PHLMX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes PHLMX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
PHLMX is a part of the Putnam Funds family of funds, a company based out of Canton, MA. Since Putnam Global Health Care M made its debut in May of 1982, PHLMX has garnered more than $11.12 million in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PHLMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.25% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 3.04%, which places it in the top 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. PHLMX's standard deviation over the past three years is 13.04% compared to the category average of 10.13%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 12.81% compared to the category average of 9.81%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. PHLMX lost 28.07% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 4.81%. These results could imply that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.98, the fund 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. PHLMX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.27, demonstrating that 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, PHLMX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.58% compared to the category average of 1.31%. From a cost perspective, PHLMX is actually more expensive than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Putnam Global Health Care M ( PHLMX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Health, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.