Any investors hoping to find a Global - Equity fund might consider looking past American Funds New Perspective F1 (NPFFX Quick QuoteNPFFX - Free Report) . NPFFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

NPFFX is classified in the Global - Equity segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Even though Global - Equity mutual funds invest in bigger markets like the U.S., Europe, and Japan, these kinds of funds aren't limited by geography. Rather, they offer an investment strategy that utilizes the global economy to provide stable returns.

History of Fund/Manager

American Funds is based in Los Angeles, CA, and is the manager of NPFFX. The American Funds New Perspective F1 made its debut in March of 1973 and NPFFX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.54 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 13.43%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.07%, which places it in the bottom 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. Over the past three years, NPFFX's standard deviation comes in at 18.38%, compared to the category average of 14.48%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 19.09% compared to the category average of 15.32%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.02, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.35, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, NPFFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.78% compared to the category average of 0.95%. So, NPFFX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $250, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Funds New Perspective F1 ( NPFFX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Global - Equity, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.