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Is Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor (DXELX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor is a possible starting point. DXELX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Direxion Funds is based in Newton, MA, and is the manager of DXELX. The Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor made its debut in November of 2005 and DXELX has managed to accumulate roughly $4.38 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Paul Brigandi who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2005.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. DXELX has a 5-year annualized total return of 6.45% and it sits in the middle 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 4.59%, 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. Over the past three years, DXELX's standard deviation comes in at 35.57%, compared to the category average of 36.56%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 33.62% compared to the category average of 32.87%. 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 1.54, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -10.62, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 80.06% stock in stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. Turnover is 0%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.

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, DXELX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.35% compared to the category average of 1.16%. From a cost perspective, DXELX is actually more expensive than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $25,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $500.

Bottom Line

Overall, Direxion Monthly Emerging Markets Bull 2X Investor ( DXELX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average 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. 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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