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Is Janus Henderson Global Life Science T (JAGLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Janus Henderson Global Life Science T (JAGLX - Free Report) is one possibility. JAGLX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Janus Fund is responsible for JAGLX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Janus Henderson Global Life Science T made its debut in December of 1998, and since then, JAGLX has accumulated about $1.25 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Andrew Acker who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2007.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. JAGLX has a 5-year annualized total return of 10.26% and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.38%, 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. Over the past three years, JAGLX's standard deviation comes in at 17.02%, compared to the category average of 17.41%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.71% compared to the category average of 15.52%. 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. JAGLX has a 5-year beta of 0.73, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 2.91, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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.

Right now, 76.47% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $125.53 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Health
  • Finance
  • Other
This fund's turnover is about 21%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, JAGLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 1.29%. So, JAGLX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Janus Henderson Global Life Science T ( JAGLX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into JAGLX too 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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