On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators Fund (IWIRX Quick QuoteIWIRX - Free Report) is one possibility. IWIRX has 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

IWIRX finds itself in the Guinness Atkinson family, based out of Woodland Hills, CA. Since Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators Fund made its debut in December of 1998, IWIRX has garnered more than $108.90 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Matthew Page, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2010.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.47%, 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 6.08%, 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 IWIRX over the past three years is 22.41% compared to the category average of 18.62%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 20.77% compared to the category average of 16.33%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.07, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -4.76, which shows 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.

The mutual fund currently has 76.36% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $286.97 billion. This fund's turnover is about 25.7%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, IWIRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.22% compared to the category average of 1.10%. So, IWIRX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $5,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $250.

Bottom Line

Overall, Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators Fund ( IWIRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators Fund ( IWIRX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about IWIRX? 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.