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Is DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE N (DSENX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Large Cap Blend funds, a place to start could be DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE N (DSENX - Free Report) . DSENX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that DSENX is a Large Cap Blend option, an area loaded with different options. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Additionally, blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, giving investors exposure to value and growth opportunities.

History of Fund/Manager

Double Line is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of DSENX. Since DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE N made its debut in October of 2013, DSENX has garnered more than $754.12 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Jeffrey Sherman who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2013.

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 16.67%, 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 15.01%, 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. DSENX's standard deviation over the past three years is 22.75% compared to the category average of 17.23%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.35% compared to the category average of 14.11%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.17, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. DSENX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.26, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 92.82% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. Turnover is 69%, which means this fund makes more trades in a given year than the category average.

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, DSENX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 0.95%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, DSENX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE N ( DSENX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, DoubleLine Shiller Enhanced CAPE N ( DSENX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about DSENX? 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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