If investors are looking at the Non US - Equity fund category, Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor could be a potential option. DXELX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify DXELX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.
History of Fund/Manager
Direxion Funds is based in Newton, MA, and is the manager of DXELX. Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor made its debut in November of 2005, and since then, DXELX has accumulated about $2.55 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Paul Brigandi is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2005.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. DXELX has a 5-year annualized total return of -1.94% 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 2.26%, 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 standard deviation of DXELX over the past three years is 31.51% compared to the category average of 12.85%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 32.82% compared to the category average of 13.43%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, DXELX lost 91.8% and underperformed comparable funds by 33%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. DXELX has a 5-year beta of 1.79, 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 negative alpha over the past 5 years of -12.34, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 76.08% stock in stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. Turnover is 0%, 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, DXELX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.35% compared to the category average of 1.23%. DXELX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $25,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $500.
Bottom Line
Overall, Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor ( DXELX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Non US - Equity funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare DXELX to its peers 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 Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor (DXELX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Non US - Equity fund category, Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor could be a potential option. DXELX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify DXELX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.
History of Fund/Manager
Direxion Funds is based in Newton, MA, and is the manager of DXELX. Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor made its debut in November of 2005, and since then, DXELX has accumulated about $2.55 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Paul Brigandi is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2005.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. DXELX has a 5-year annualized total return of -1.94% 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 2.26%, 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 standard deviation of DXELX over the past three years is 31.51% compared to the category average of 12.85%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 32.82% compared to the category average of 13.43%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, DXELX lost 91.8% and underperformed comparable funds by 33%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. DXELX has a 5-year beta of 1.79, 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 negative alpha over the past 5 years of -12.34, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 76.08% stock in stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. Turnover is 0%, 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, DXELX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.35% compared to the category average of 1.23%. DXELX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $25,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $500.
Bottom Line
Overall, Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor ( DXELX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Non US - Equity funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare DXELX to its peers 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.