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Is Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. DLHAX 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
DLHAX is a part of the Delaware Investments family of funds, a company based out of Philadelphia, PA. Delaware Healthcare A debuted in September of 2007. Since then, DLHAX has accumulated assets of about $274.21 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Liu-Er Chen, has been in charge of the fund since September of 2007.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.65%, and is 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 7.43%, which places it in the bottom 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 DLHAX over the past three years is 16.43% compared to the category average of 16.62%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.67% compared to the category average of 15.09%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.74, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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. DLHAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.96, demonstrating that 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, DLHAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.29%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, DLHAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Delaware Healthcare A ( DLHAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on DLHAXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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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Is Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. DLHAX 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
DLHAX is a part of the Delaware Investments family of funds, a company based out of Philadelphia, PA. Delaware Healthcare A debuted in September of 2007. Since then, DLHAX has accumulated assets of about $274.21 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Liu-Er Chen, has been in charge of the fund since September of 2007.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.65%, and is 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 7.43%, which places it in the bottom 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 DLHAX over the past three years is 16.43% compared to the category average of 16.62%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.67% compared to the category average of 15.09%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.74, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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. DLHAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.96, demonstrating that 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, DLHAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.29%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, DLHAX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Delaware Healthcare A ( DLHAX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on DLHAXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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.