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Is Janus Henderson Global Technology A (JATAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Sector - Tech fund seekers should consider taking a look at Janus Henderson Global Technology A (JATAX - Free Report) . JATAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and JATAX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.

History of Fund/Manager

Janus Fund is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of JATAX. Since Janus Henderson Global Technology A made its debut in July of 2009, JATAX has garnered more than $339.28 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Denny Fish who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2016.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 30.8%, 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 29.99%, 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. JATAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.19% compared to the category average of 16.24%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 16.79% compared to the category average of 13.44%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.98, the fund is likely to be as volatile as 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. JATAX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 11.57, demonstrating 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, JATAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.99% compared to the category average of 1.35%. From a cost perspective, JATAX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Janus Henderson Global Technology A ( JATAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Janus Henderson Global Technology A ( JATAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on JATAXin the Sector - Tech 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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