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Is ProFunds UltraChina Investor (UGPIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a China - Equity fund? Well, ProFunds UltraChina Investor (UGPIX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. UGPIX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify UGPIX in the China - Equity category, an area that is rife with potential choices. China - Equity mutual funds almost exclusively target stocks throughout China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. China has changed drastically over the years, and even though we still associate the country's economy with export-focused manufacturing, it now focuses more than ever on its middle class. If you like the sounds of this investment method, then UGPIX could worth a closer look for your portfolio.

History of Fund/Manager

UGPIX is a part of the ProFunds family of funds, a company based out of Columbus, OH. ProFunds UltraChina Investor debuted in February of 2008. Since then, UGPIX has accumulated assets of about $25.46 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Scott Hanson, has been in charge of the fund since August of 2016.

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 5.24%, and it sits 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 -12.77%, 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. UGPIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 53.18% compared to the category average of 26.46%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 45.63% compared to the category average of 22.21%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.63, the fund 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -10.72. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, UGPIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.71% compared to the category average of 1.57%. From a cost perspective, UGPIX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $15,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, ProFunds UltraChina Investor ( UGPIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about UGPIX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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