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Is Janus Henderson Forty T (JACTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? Janus Henderson Forty T (JACTX - Free Report) is a possible starting point. JACTX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

JACTX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.

History of Fund/Manager

Janus Fund is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of JACTX. The Janus Henderson Forty T made its debut in July of 2009 and JACTX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.41 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by A. Douglas Rao who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2013.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 10.3%, and it sits in the top 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 10.23%, 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. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 12.96% compared to the category average of 1.05%. 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.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. JACTX has a 5-year beta of 1.06, which means it 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 1.46, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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.

Right now, 92.22% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $314.74 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Finance
  3. Health
  4. Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is 37%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.

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, JACTX is a no load fund and it has an expense ratio of 0.83%.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

With a rank of 'hold' we aren't getting a good signal one way or another on JACTX. That is why it might be a good idea to consider other items, such as the fund's expense ratio of 0.83%, and how this compares to other potential options being considered for investment. If cheaper, it might make a decent choice, but a more expensive fund might be worth avoiding. Just make sure to pay attention to its rank in case it shifts in the near future.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Growth, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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