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Is ProFunds Semicond UltraSector Investor (SMPIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Sector - Tech fund? ProFunds Semicond UltraSector Investor (SMPIX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. SMPIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and SMPIX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
SMPIX finds itself in the ProFunds family, based out of Columbus, OH. The ProFunds Semicond UltraSector Investor made its debut in June of 2000 and SMPIX has managed to accumulate roughly $398.29 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Michael Neches who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2013.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. SMPIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 49.86% and it sits in the top 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 41.06%, 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. SMPIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 56.17% compared to the category average of 26.09%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 47.7% compared to the category average of 27.24%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 2.07, the fund is likely to be more volatile than 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 24.33, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, SMPIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.48% compared to the category average of 1.44%. SMPIX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $15,000, investors should also note that 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, even with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, ProFunds Semicond UltraSector Investor ( SMPIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Tech 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 SMPIX too 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 ProFunds Semicond UltraSector Investor (SMPIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Sector - Tech fund? ProFunds Semicond UltraSector Investor (SMPIX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. SMPIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and SMPIX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
SMPIX finds itself in the ProFunds family, based out of Columbus, OH. The ProFunds Semicond UltraSector Investor made its debut in June of 2000 and SMPIX has managed to accumulate roughly $398.29 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Michael Neches who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2013.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. SMPIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 49.86% and it sits in the top 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 41.06%, 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. SMPIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 56.17% compared to the category average of 26.09%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 47.7% compared to the category average of 27.24%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 2.07, the fund is likely to be more volatile than 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 24.33, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, SMPIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.48% compared to the category average of 1.44%. SMPIX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $15,000, investors should also note that 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, even with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, ProFunds Semicond UltraSector Investor ( SMPIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Tech 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 SMPIX too 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.