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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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If you're looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, then a possible option is Direxion Monthly NASDAQ-100 Bull 1.75X Investor (DXQLX - Free Report) . DXQLX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

Direxion Funds is based in Newton, MA, and is the manager of DXQLX. Direxion Monthly NASDAQ-100 Bull 1.75X Investor made its debut in May of 2006, and since then, DXQLX has accumulated about $360.87 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. 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 carries a 5-year annualized total return of 22.58%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of 8.64%, which places it in the middle 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 DXQLX over the past three years is 42.82% compared to the category average of 37.78%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 43.45% compared to the category average of 39.1%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 2.15, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more 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. DXQLX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 5.54, 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 mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 78.53% 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
With turnover at about 0%, this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.

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 1.35% compared to the category average of 0.80%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, DXQLX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $25,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $500.

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

Bottom Line

Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.


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