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Is JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A (VSCOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for Small Cap Growth funds, consider JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A (VSCOX - Free Report) as a possibility. VSCOX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (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 VSCOX. 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
VSCOX finds itself in the J.P. Morgan family, based out of Boston, MA. Since JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A made its debut in May of 1997, VSCOX has garnered more than $80.78 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.97%, and is 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 23.91%, 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. Over the past three years, VSCOX's standard deviation comes in at 16.29%, compared to the category average of 11.43%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.52% compared to the category average of 11.24%. 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 VSCOX's case, the fund lost 54.48% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 1.51%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.3, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.86, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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.
The mutual fund currently has 97.67% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $3.49 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Industrial Cyclical
Technology
Finance
Other
Health
Turnover is 89%, which means, on average, the fund makes more trades in a given year than the category average.
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, VSCOX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.25%. From a cost perspective, VSCOX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A ( VSCOX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Your research on the Small Cap Growth segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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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Is JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A (VSCOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Small Cap Growth funds, consider JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A (VSCOX - Free Report) as a possibility. VSCOX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (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 VSCOX. 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
VSCOX finds itself in the J.P. Morgan family, based out of Boston, MA. Since JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A made its debut in May of 1997, VSCOX has garnered more than $80.78 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.97%, and is 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 23.91%, 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. Over the past three years, VSCOX's standard deviation comes in at 16.29%, compared to the category average of 11.43%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 18.52% compared to the category average of 11.24%. 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 VSCOX's case, the fund lost 54.48% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 1.51%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.3, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.86, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring 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.
The mutual fund currently has 97.67% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $3.49 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Industrial Cyclical
- Technology
- Finance
- Other
- Health
Turnover is 89%, which means, on average, the fund makes more trades in a given year than the category average.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, VSCOX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.25%. From a cost perspective, VSCOX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, JPMorgan Dynamic Small Cap Growth A ( VSCOX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Your research on the Small Cap Growth segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.