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Is Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Sector - Health fund category, a potential starting could be Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX - Free Report) . DLHAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as DLHAX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Delaware Investments is based in Philadelphia, PA, and is the manager of DLHAX. Since Delaware Healthcare A made its debut in September of 2007, DLHAX has garnered more than $233.47 million in assets. Liu-Er Chen is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 2007.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. DLHAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.87% and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.21%, 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. DLHAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.1% compared to the category average of 15.11%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.14% compared to the category average of 15.74%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.62, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. DLHAX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.28, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, DLHAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.21% compared to the category average of 0.99%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, DLHAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Delaware Healthcare A ( DLHAX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Delaware Healthcare A ( DLHAX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Health 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 DLHAX 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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Is Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Sector - Health fund category, a potential starting could be Delaware Healthcare A (DLHAX - Free Report) . DLHAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as DLHAX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Delaware Investments is based in Philadelphia, PA, and is the manager of DLHAX. Since Delaware Healthcare A made its debut in September of 2007, DLHAX has garnered more than $233.47 million in assets. Liu-Er Chen is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 2007.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. DLHAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.87% and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.21%, 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. DLHAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.1% compared to the category average of 15.11%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 15.14% compared to the category average of 15.74%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.62, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. DLHAX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 1.28, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, DLHAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.21% compared to the category average of 0.99%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, DLHAX is actually more expensive than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Delaware Healthcare A ( DLHAX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Delaware Healthcare A ( DLHAX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Health 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 DLHAX 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.