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Is iShares S&P 500 Index K (WFSPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Looking for an Index fund? You may want to consider iShares S&P 500 Index K (WFSPX - Free Report) as a possible option. The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
WFSPX is a part of the BlackRock family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. IShares S&P 500 Index K debuted in July of 1993. Since then, WFSPX has accumulated assets of about $11.85 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
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 16.88%, 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 15.99%, 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. Over the past three years, WFSPX's standard deviation comes in at 18.84%, compared to the category average of 15.66%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.22% compared to the category average of 12.9%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.01, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 89.53% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $371.44 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Retail Trade
Turnover is 4%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.
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, WFSPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.03% compared to the category average of 0.79%. From a cost perspective, WFSPX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $5 million, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Don't stop here for your research on Index funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare WFSPX to its peers 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 iShares S&P 500 Index K (WFSPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Looking for an Index fund? You may want to consider iShares S&P 500 Index K (WFSPX - Free Report) as a possible option. The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
WFSPX is a part of the BlackRock family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. IShares S&P 500 Index K debuted in July of 1993. Since then, WFSPX has accumulated assets of about $11.85 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
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 16.88%, 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 15.99%, 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. Over the past three years, WFSPX's standard deviation comes in at 18.84%, compared to the category average of 15.66%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.22% compared to the category average of 12.9%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 0.01, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 89.53% of its assets in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $371.44 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Retail Trade
Turnover is 4%, which means, on average, the fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.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, WFSPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.03% compared to the category average of 0.79%. From a cost perspective, WFSPX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $5 million, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Don't stop here for your research on Index funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare WFSPX to its peers 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.