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Is Boston Partners Small Cap Value II Institutional (BPSIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Well, Boston Partners Small Cap Value II Institutional (BPSIX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. BPSIX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

BostonPartners is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of BPSIX. Boston Partners Small Cap Value II Institutional made its debut in July of 1998, and since then, BPSIX has accumulated about $722.12 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. David M. Dabora is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 1998.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.42%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.68%, 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. Compared to the category average of 20.59%, the standard deviation of BPSIX over the past three years is 26.88%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 23.65% compared to the category average of 18.5%. 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 1.18, so it is likely going to be 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. BPSIX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -6.45, which means 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.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 86.92% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $3.60 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Finance
  2. Other
  3. Industrial Cyclical
  4. Services
Turnover is 20%, which means, on average, the 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, BPSIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.99% compared to the category average of 1.22%. So, BPSIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $100,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $5,000.

Bottom Line

Overall, Boston Partners Small Cap Value II Institutional ( BPSIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Boston Partners Small Cap Value II Institutional ( BPSIX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report 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 BPSIX 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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