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Is Hartford Small Company HLS IA (HIASX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If investors are looking at the Small Cap Growth fund category, Hartford Small Company HLS IA (HIASX - Free Report) could be a potential option. HIASX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Small Cap Growth funds is an area filled with options, such as HIASX. These funds tend to create their portfolios around stocks that sport large growth opportunities and market capitalization of less than $2 billion. The companies in these portfolios are usually on the smaller side, and are in up-and-coming industries and markets.
History of Fund/Manager
Hartford is based in Woodbury, MN, and is the manager of HIASX. Hartford Small Company HLS IA debuted in December of 2001. Since then, HIASX has accumulated assets of about $542.20 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Steven C. Angeli, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2001.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.26%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.96%, which places it in the middle 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. The standard deviation of HIASX over the past three years is 16.05% compared to the category average of 11.68%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.92% compared to the category average of 11.68%. 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. In HIASX's case, the fund lost 52.7% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 0.33%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.27, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. With a negative alpha of -5.41, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 95.76% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $4.42 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Health
Retail Trade
Industrial Cyclical
Services
Turnover is 96%, which means, on average, the fund makes more traders than comparable funds in a given year.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, HIASX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 1.29%. From a cost perspective, HIASX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Hartford Small Company HLS IA ( HIASX ) 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 IA ( HIASX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about HIASX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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Is Hartford Small Company HLS IA (HIASX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Small Cap Growth fund category, Hartford Small Company HLS IA (HIASX - Free Report) could be a potential option. HIASX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Small Cap Growth funds is an area filled with options, such as HIASX. These funds tend to create their portfolios around stocks that sport large growth opportunities and market capitalization of less than $2 billion. The companies in these portfolios are usually on the smaller side, and are in up-and-coming industries and markets.
History of Fund/Manager
Hartford is based in Woodbury, MN, and is the manager of HIASX. Hartford Small Company HLS IA debuted in December of 2001. Since then, HIASX has accumulated assets of about $542.20 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Steven C. Angeli, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2001.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.26%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.96%, which places it in the middle 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. The standard deviation of HIASX over the past three years is 16.05% compared to the category average of 11.68%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.92% compared to the category average of 11.68%. 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. In HIASX's case, the fund lost 52.7% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 0.33%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.27, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. With a negative alpha of -5.41, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 95.76% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $4.42 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Health
- Retail Trade
- Industrial Cyclical
- Services
Turnover is 96%, which means, on average, the fund makes more traders than comparable funds in a given year.Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, HIASX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 1.29%. From a cost perspective, HIASX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Hartford Small Company HLS IA ( HIASX ) 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 IA ( HIASX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about HIASX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.