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Is JPMorgan Disciplined Equity A (JDEAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is JPMorgan Disciplined Equity A (JDEAX - Free Report) . JDEAX carries 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

JDEAX finds itself in the J.P. Morgan family, based out of Boston, MA. The JPMorgan Disciplined Equity A made its debut in January of 1997 and JDEAX has managed to accumulate roughly $176.20 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Raffaele Zingone who has been in charge of the fund since July of 2002.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 16.49%, and it sits 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 10.77%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.66%, the standard deviation of JDEAX over the past three years is 17.56%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.82% compared to the category average of 16.45%. 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. JDEAX has a 5-year beta of 1.01, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 0.58. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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.

Right now, 77.49% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, with an average market capitalization of $375.66 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Finance
Turnover is 32%, which means this 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, JDEAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.60% compared to the category average of 0.90%. From a cost perspective, JDEAX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note, that according to our data, the fund does not have any minimum investment requirements.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, JPMorgan Disciplined Equity A ( JDEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, JPMorgan Disciplined Equity A ( JDEAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

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. 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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