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Is ONEFUND S&P 500 (INDEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Index funds, a place to start could be ONEFUND S&P 500 (INDEX - Free Report) . INDEX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

INDEX is a part of the Index Funds family of funds, a company based out of Denver, CO. ONEFUND S&P 500 debuted in April of 2015. Since then, INDEX has accumulated assets of about $120.94 million, according to the most recently available information. Michael Willis is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2015.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 14.87%, and is in the middle 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 8.31%, 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, INDEX's standard deviation comes in at 17.37%, compared to the category average of 16.41%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.72% compared to the category average of 16.21%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.98, which means 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. With a negative alpha of -0.37, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

The mutual fund currently has 78.1% of its holdings in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $489.36 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Finance
  • Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 81%, so the fund managers are making more traders than comparable funds in a given year.

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, INDEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.25% compared to the category average of 0.72%. From a cost perspective, INDEX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $1,000

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

Bottom Line

Overall, ONEFUND S&P 500 ( INDEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Index 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 INDEX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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