Is Lazard Global List Infrastructure Open (GLFOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

GLFOX

On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Lazard Global List Infrastructure Open (GLFOX - Free Report) is one possibility. GLFOX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Lazard Funds is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of GLFOX. Since Lazard Global List Infrastructure Open made its debut in December of 2009, GLFOX has garnered more than $286.18 million in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. GLFOX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.44% 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 7.94%, 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. GLFOX's standard deviation over the past three years is 13.56% compared to the category average of 15.33%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 12.13% compared to the category average of 12.83%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. GLFOX has a 5-year beta of 0.54, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.36. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, GLFOX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.21% compared to the category average of 1.13%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, GLFOX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Lazard Global List Infrastructure Open ( GLFOX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Lazard Global List Infrastructure Open ( GLFOX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.

Highest Returns for Any Asset Class

It’s not even close. Despite ups and downs, Bitcoin has been more profitable for investors than any other decentralized, borderless form of money.

No guarantees for the future, but in the past three presidential election years, Bitcoin’s returns were as follows: 2012 +272.4%, 2016 +161.1%, and 2020 +302.8%. Zacks predicts another significant surge in months to come.

Hurry, Download Special Report – It’s FREE >>