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Is Janus Henderson Triton T (JATTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Small Cap Growth funds, a place to start could be Janus Henderson Triton T (JATTX - Free Report) . JATTX carries 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 JATTX. 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

Janus Fund is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of JATTX. Since Janus Henderson Triton T made its debut in February of 2005, JATTX has garnered more than $2.84 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Jonathan D. Coleman, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2013.

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 11.16%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 15.56%, 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. Compared to the category average of 10.6%, the standard deviation of JATTX over the past three years is 15.14%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 14.74% compared to the category average of 10.55%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In the most recent bear market, JATTX lost 45.51% and outperformed its peer group by 8%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.11, 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. JATTX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.38, demonstrating that 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 95.24% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $6.69 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Other
  3. Health
  4. Industrial Cyclical
With turnover at about 26%, this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.

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, JATTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 1.26%. From a cost perspective, JATTX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Janus Henderson Triton T ( JATTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Small Cap Growth area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into JATTX too for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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