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Is Schwab Health Care Fund (SWHFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Health funds, consider Schwab Health Care Fund (SWHFX - Free Report) as a possibility. SWHFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that SWHFX is a Sector - Health fund, and this area is also loaded with various options. Sector - Health mutual funds give investors an opportunity to focus on one of the largest sectors of the American economy, healthcare. Funds in this category can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Schwab Funds is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of SWHFX. Since Schwab Health Care Fund made its debut in June of 2000, SWHFX has garnered more than $879.04 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Wei Li, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. SWHFX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.08% and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.44%, 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 SWHFX over the past three years is 14.97% compared to the category average of 17.34%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 14.65% compared to the category average of 17.63%. 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 0.67, 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. SWHFX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.73, which means 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, SWHFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 1.13%. SWHFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while 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, Schwab Health Care Fund ( SWHFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Schwab Health Care Fund ( SWHFX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Health funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare SWHFX to its peers as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Schwab Health Care Fund (SWHFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Health funds, consider Schwab Health Care Fund (SWHFX - Free Report) as a possibility. SWHFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that SWHFX is a Sector - Health fund, and this area is also loaded with various options. Sector - Health mutual funds give investors an opportunity to focus on one of the largest sectors of the American economy, healthcare. Funds in this category can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Schwab Funds is based in San Francisco, CA, and is the manager of SWHFX. Since Schwab Health Care Fund made its debut in June of 2000, SWHFX has garnered more than $879.04 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Wei Li, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. SWHFX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.08% and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.44%, 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 SWHFX over the past three years is 14.97% compared to the category average of 17.34%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 14.65% compared to the category average of 17.63%. 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 0.67, 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. SWHFX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.73, which means 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, SWHFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 1.13%. SWHFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while 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, Schwab Health Care Fund ( SWHFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Schwab Health Care Fund ( SWHFX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Health funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare SWHFX to its peers as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.