There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is Kinetics Small Cap Opportunity No Load (KSCOX Quick QuoteKSCOX - Free Report) . KSCOX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Kinetics is based in Sleepy Hollow, NY, and is the manager of KSCOX. The Kinetics Small Cap Opportunity No Load made its debut in February of 2003 and KSCOX has managed to accumulate roughly $219.83 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. KSCOX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.11% 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 28.65%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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 KSCOX over the past three years is 33.44% compared to the category average of 16.45%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 32.81% compared to the category average of 17.55%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.24, 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. With a positive alpha of 0.56, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, KSCOX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.64% compared to the category average of 1.18%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, KSCOX is actually more expensive than its peers.

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

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Kinetics Small Cap Opportunity No Load ( KSCOX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Kinetics Small Cap Opportunity No Load ( KSCOX ) looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

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