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Is Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA (HIAHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Sector - Health fund seekers should consider taking a look at Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA (HIAHX - Free Report) . HIAHX possesses 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 Sector - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as HIAHX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
HIAHX is a part of the Hartford family of funds, a company based out of Woodbury, MN. Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA made its debut in December of 2001, and since then, HIAHX has accumulated about $165.36 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 16.09%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 15.85%, 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 HIAHX over the past three years is 18.28% compared to the category average of 17.14%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 16.14% compared to the category average of 14.9%. This makes the fund more 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. HIAHX has a 5-year beta of 0.88, which means it 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.42. This means 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, HIAHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 1.34%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, HIAHX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA ( HIAHX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA ( HIAHX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Health segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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 Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA (HIAHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Sector - Health fund seekers should consider taking a look at Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA (HIAHX - Free Report) . HIAHX possesses 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 Sector - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as HIAHX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
HIAHX is a part of the Hartford family of funds, a company based out of Woodbury, MN. Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA made its debut in December of 2001, and since then, HIAHX has accumulated about $165.36 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 16.09%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 15.85%, 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 HIAHX over the past three years is 18.28% compared to the category average of 17.14%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 16.14% compared to the category average of 14.9%. This makes the fund more 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. HIAHX has a 5-year beta of 0.88, which means it 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.42. This means 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, HIAHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 1.34%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, HIAHX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA ( HIAHX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Hartford Healthcare Fund HLS IA ( HIAHX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Health segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.