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Is Direxion Monthly NASDAQ-100 Bull 1.75X Investor (DXQLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Direxion Monthly NASDAQ-100 Bull 1.75X Investor (DXQLX - Free Report) is one possibility. DXQLX holds 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

DXQLX is a part of the Direxion Funds family of funds, a company based out of Newton, MA. Direxion Monthly NASDAQ-100 Bull 1.75X Investor debuted in May of 2006. Since then, DXQLX has accumulated assets of about $244.14 million, according to the most recently available information. Tony Ng is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2006.

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 17.59%, and it sits 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 18.44%, 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 DXQLX over the past three years is 48.31% compared to the category average of 43.03%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 43.15% compared to the category average of 38.41%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 2.17, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. DXQLX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 3.14, demonstrating 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.

The mutual fund currently has 96.02% of its holdings in stocks and it has a negligible amount of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Other
  • Finance
Turnover is 0%, which means, on average, the fund makes 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, DXQLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.32% compared to the category average of 0.79%. DXQLX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Direxion Monthly NASDAQ-100 Bull 1.75X Investor ( DXQLX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about DXQLX? 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. 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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