There are plenty of choices in the Mid Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Janus Henderson Enterprise T (JAENX Quick QuoteJAENX - Free Report) . JAENX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes JAENX as Mid Cap Growth, a segment packed with options. Mid Cap Growth mutual funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. A firm is typically considered to be a growth stock if it consistently posts impressive sales and/or earnings growth.

History of Fund/Manager

JAENX is a part of the Janus Fund family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. The Janus Henderson Enterprise T made its debut in November of 1992 and JAENX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.45 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Brian Demain who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2007.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. JAENX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.27% 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 5.19%, 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 JAENX over the past three years is 18.36% compared to the category average of 15.31%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.99% compared to the category average of 16.03%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.03, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as 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. JAENX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -4.06, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 84% in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $29.86 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

• Technology
• Other
• Finance

With turnover at about 14%, this fund makes fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, JAENX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.90% compared to the category average of 0.96%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, JAENX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Janus Henderson Enterprise T ( JAENX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Mid Cap Growth 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.