Mid Cap Growth fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Janus Henderson Enterprise A (JDMAX Quick QuoteJDMAX - Free Report) . JDMAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes JDMAX as Mid Cap Growth, a segment packed with options. Mid Cap Growth mutual funds aim to target companies with a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion that are also expected to exhibit more extensive growth opportunities for investors than their peers. A firm is typically considered to be a growth stock if it consistently posts impressive sales and/or earnings growth.

History of Fund/Manager

JDMAX finds itself in the Janus Fund family, based out of Boston, MA. Since Janus Henderson Enterprise A made its debut in October of 2004, JDMAX has garnered more than $22.28 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Brian Demain who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2007.

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 6.74%, and is 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 13.5%, 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. Over the past three years, JDMAX's standard deviation comes in at 14.6%, compared to the category average of 11.8%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 16.03% compared to the category average of 13.61%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.94, the fund is likely to be less 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. JDMAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -5.98, which means 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, JDMAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.11% compared to the category average of 0.95%. So, JDMAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, 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

Overall, even with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Janus Henderson Enterprise A ( JDMAX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

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