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Is Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund Investor (HJPSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Pacific Rim - Equity fund? Starting with Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund Investor (HJPSX - Free Report) is one possibility. HJPSX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
HJPSX is classified in the Pacific Rim - Equity segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds see big investment opportunities in the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese firms, as Japan mutual funds are very popular.
History of Fund/Manager
HJPSX is a part of the Hennessy family of funds, a company based out of Novato, CA. Since Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund Investor made its debut in August of 2007, HJPSX has garnered more than $40.20 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Tadahiro Fujimura who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2007.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.17%, and it sits in the middle 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 20.65%, 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 HJPSX over the past three years is 12.75% compared to the category average of 12.93%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.24% compared to the category average of 13.37%. 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 0.55, so it is likely going to be 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.57. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, HJPSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.51% compared to the category average of 0.91%. From a cost perspective, HJPSX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund Investor ( HJPSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Pacific Rim - Equity 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 HJPSX 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 Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund Investor (HJPSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Pacific Rim - Equity fund? Starting with Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund Investor (HJPSX - Free Report) is one possibility. HJPSX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
HJPSX is classified in the Pacific Rim - Equity segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds see big investment opportunities in the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese firms, as Japan mutual funds are very popular.
History of Fund/Manager
HJPSX is a part of the Hennessy family of funds, a company based out of Novato, CA. Since Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund Investor made its debut in August of 2007, HJPSX has garnered more than $40.20 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Tadahiro Fujimura who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2007.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.17%, and it sits in the middle 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 20.65%, 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 HJPSX over the past three years is 12.75% compared to the category average of 12.93%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.24% compared to the category average of 13.37%. 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 0.55, so it is likely going to be 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.57. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, HJPSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.51% compared to the category average of 0.91%. From a cost perspective, HJPSX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Hennessy Japan Small Cap Fund Investor ( HJPSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Pacific Rim - Equity 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 HJPSX 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.