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Is Hartford Small Company HLS IB (HDMBX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Small Cap Growth fund could think about starting with Hartford Small Company HLS IB (HDMBX - Free Report) . HDMBX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
HDMBX is one of many different Small Cap Growth funds to choose from. Small Cap Growth mutual funds build portfolios around stocks with markets caps under $2 billion and large growth opportunities. Additionally, these portfolios typically highlight smaller companies in promising markets and industries.
History of Fund/Manager
HDMBX finds itself in the Hartford family, based out of Woodbury, MN. The Hartford Small Company HLS IB made its debut in October of 2002 and HDMBX has managed to accumulate roughly $62.46 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Steven C. Angeli, has been in charge of the fund since October of 2002.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 10.77%, and is in the bottom 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 17%, 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. HDMBX's standard deviation over the past three years is 13.48% compared to the category average of 11.22%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 14.6% compared to the category average of 11.12%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. HDMBX lost 52.82% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 0.32%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.16, 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. With a negative alpha of -4.18, 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, HDMBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.04% compared to the category average of 1.31%. HDMBX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Hartford Small Company HLS IB ( HDMBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Hartford Small Company HLS IB ( HDMBX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Small Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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 Small Company HLS IB (HDMBX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Small Cap Growth fund could think about starting with Hartford Small Company HLS IB (HDMBX - Free Report) . HDMBX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
HDMBX is one of many different Small Cap Growth funds to choose from. Small Cap Growth mutual funds build portfolios around stocks with markets caps under $2 billion and large growth opportunities. Additionally, these portfolios typically highlight smaller companies in promising markets and industries.
History of Fund/Manager
HDMBX finds itself in the Hartford family, based out of Woodbury, MN. The Hartford Small Company HLS IB made its debut in October of 2002 and HDMBX has managed to accumulate roughly $62.46 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Steven C. Angeli, has been in charge of the fund since October of 2002.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 10.77%, and is in the bottom 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 17%, 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. HDMBX's standard deviation over the past three years is 13.48% compared to the category average of 11.22%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 14.6% compared to the category average of 11.12%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. HDMBX lost 52.82% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 0.32%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.16, 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. With a negative alpha of -4.18, 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, HDMBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.04% compared to the category average of 1.31%. HDMBX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Hartford Small Company HLS IB ( HDMBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Hartford Small Company HLS IB ( HDMBX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Small Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.