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Is Royce Global Financial Services Service Class (RYFSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Sector - Finance fund seekers should consider taking a look at Royce Global Financial Services Service Class (RYFSX - Free Report) . RYFSX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

RYFSX is part of the Sector - Finance section, which boasts an array of other possible selections. Sector - Finance funds offer a stable, diversified approach to investing that focuses on the financial industry, an infamously large, complex, and heavily-regulated space. Funds here can include insurance companies and exchanges, as well as banks and investment giants. Investors should note that interest rates may also impact players in this market.

History of Fund/Manager

Royce Funds is responsible for RYFSX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. Royce Global Financial Services Service Class debuted in January of 2004. Since then, RYFSX has accumulated assets of about $24.58 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Charles M. Royce who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2004.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.74%, 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 5.64%, 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 18.98%, the standard deviation of RYFSX over the past three years is 22.42%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.28% compared to the category average of 16.57%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.15, so investors should note that it is hypothetically 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. RYFSX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -5.81, demonstrating 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, RYFSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.49% compared to the category average of 1.53%. From a cost perspective, RYFSX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Royce Global Financial Services Service Class ( RYFSX ) 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 Sector - Finance 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 RYFSX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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