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Is Semper MBS Total Return Investor (SEMPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Index funds, a place to start could be Semper MBS Total Return Investor (SEMPX - Free Report) . SEMPX 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
Semper is responsible for SEMPX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. The Semper MBS Total Return Investor made its debut in July of 2013 and SEMPX has managed to accumulate roughly $59.90 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Thomas Mandel is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2015.
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 2.27%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.16%, which places it in the middle 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. SEMPX's standard deviation over the past three years is 13.7% compared to the category average of 12.07%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 10.66% compared to the category average of 10.15%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.37, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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. SEMPX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.06, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, SEMPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.09% compared to the category average of 0.80%. SEMPX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1,000.
Bottom Line
Overall, Semper MBS Total Return Investor ( SEMPX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on SEMPXin the Index category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank 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 Semper MBS Total Return Investor (SEMPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Index funds, a place to start could be Semper MBS Total Return Investor (SEMPX - Free Report) . SEMPX 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
Semper is responsible for SEMPX, and the company is based out of New York, NY. The Semper MBS Total Return Investor made its debut in July of 2013 and SEMPX has managed to accumulate roughly $59.90 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Thomas Mandel is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2015.
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 2.27%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.16%, which places it in the middle 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. SEMPX's standard deviation over the past three years is 13.7% compared to the category average of 12.07%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 10.66% compared to the category average of 10.15%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.37, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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. SEMPX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.06, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, SEMPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.09% compared to the category average of 0.80%. SEMPX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $1,000.
Bottom Line
Overall, Semper MBS Total Return Investor ( SEMPX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on SEMPXin the Index category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank 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.