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Is TETON Convertible Securities AAA (WESRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Sector - Real Estate funds, you might want to consider passing on by TETON Convertible Securities AAA (WESRX - Free Report) as a possibility. WESRX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes WESRX in Sector - Real Estate, which is a segment packed with options. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are a popular income vehicle thanks to their taxation rules, and Sector - Real Estate mutual funds typically invest in them. A REIT is required to pay out at least 90% of its income annually to avoid double taxation, and this technique makes securities in these funds high dividend players-almost bond-like in some cases-though their risk is similar to equities.

History of Fund/Manager

WESRX is a part of the TETON family of funds, a company based out of Rye, NY. The TETON Convertible Securities AAA made its debut in September of 1997 and WESRX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.73 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by James Dinsmore who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2016.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.95%, and is in the bottom 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 11.22%, which places it in the middle 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 WESRX over the past three years is 13.24% compared to the category average of 10.7%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.64% compared to the category average of 12.21%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. WESRX has a 5-year beta of 0.71, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. WESRX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -8.22, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, WESRX is a no load fund and it has an expense ratio of 1.16%.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

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

Bottom Line

With a 'strong sell' rank, TETON Convertible Securities AAA is in the bottom 20% of all mutual funds we cover. This means that our models suggest it is one of the worst options for investors in Sector - Real Estate right now, though this could change if the performance of the fund and the Zacks Ranks of the equities in WESRX turnaround in the next data release.

Your research on the Sector - Real Estate segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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