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Is John Hancock Regional Bank A (FRBAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at John Hancock Regional Bank A (FRBAX - Free Report) . FRBAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
John Hancock is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FRBAX. John Hancock Regional Bank A debuted in January of 1992. Since then, FRBAX has accumulated assets of about $823.98 million, according to the most recently available information. Susan A. Curry is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2006.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.99%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 17.29%, 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. The standard deviation of FRBAX over the past three years is 30.48% compared to the category average of 17.85%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 25.99% compared to the category average of 14.91%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FRBAX has a 5-year beta of 1.23, which means it 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. FRBAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -10.48, which means 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, FRBAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.20% compared to the category average of 1.52%. So, FRBAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, John Hancock Regional Bank A ( FRBAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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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Is John Hancock Regional Bank A (FRBAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at John Hancock Regional Bank A (FRBAX - Free Report) . FRBAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
John Hancock is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FRBAX. John Hancock Regional Bank A debuted in January of 1992. Since then, FRBAX has accumulated assets of about $823.98 million, according to the most recently available information. Susan A. Curry is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2006.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.99%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 17.29%, 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. The standard deviation of FRBAX over the past three years is 30.48% compared to the category average of 17.85%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 25.99% compared to the category average of 14.91%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FRBAX has a 5-year beta of 1.23, which means it 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. FRBAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -10.48, which means 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, FRBAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.20% compared to the category average of 1.52%. So, FRBAX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, John Hancock Regional Bank A ( FRBAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.