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Is Kinetics Internet Fund No Load (WWWFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Tech funds, you might want to consider passing on by Kinetics Internet Fund No Load (WWWFX - Free Report) as a possibility. WWWFX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and WWWFX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.

History of Fund/Manager

Kinetics is responsible for WWWFX, and the company is based out of Sleepy Hollow, NY. The Kinetics Internet Fund No Load made its debut in October of 1996 and WWWFX has managed to accumulate roughly $118.42 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 7.49%, and is in the middle 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 14.04%, 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. Over the past three years, WWWFX's standard deviation comes in at 19.24%, compared to the category average of 12.17%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.91% compared to the category average of 12.13%. 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. WWWFX lost 49.63% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 4%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.75, the fund is likely to be less 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 0.15, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, WWWFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.88% compared to the category average of 1.39%. WWWFX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Kinetics Internet Fund No Load ( WWWFX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Kinetics Internet Fund No Load ( WWWFX ) looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on WWWFXin the Sector - Tech category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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