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Is Buffalo International Fund (BUFIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you have been looking for Non US - Equity fund category, a potential starting could be Buffalo International Fund (BUFIX - Free Report) . BUFIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes BUFIX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets.
History of Fund/Manager
Buffalo Funds is based in Shawnee Mission, KS, and is the manager of BUFIX. Buffalo International Fund made its debut in October of 2007, and since then, BUFIX has accumulated about $286.98 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by William Kornitzer who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2007.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. BUFIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 8.44% and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.57%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
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. Compared to the category average of 12.88%, the standard deviation of BUFIX over the past three years is 11.65%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 10.91% compared to the category average of 12.6%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, BUFIX lost 50.78% and outperformed its peer group by 7.62%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.88, which means it is hypothetically 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.6, which shows that 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, BUFIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 1.28%. BUFIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Buffalo International Fund has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Buffalo International Fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Non US - Equity, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is Buffalo International Fund (BUFIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Non US - Equity fund category, a potential starting could be Buffalo International Fund (BUFIX - Free Report) . BUFIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes BUFIX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets.
History of Fund/Manager
Buffalo Funds is based in Shawnee Mission, KS, and is the manager of BUFIX. Buffalo International Fund made its debut in October of 2007, and since then, BUFIX has accumulated about $286.98 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by William Kornitzer who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2007.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. BUFIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 8.44% and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.57%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
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. Compared to the category average of 12.88%, the standard deviation of BUFIX over the past three years is 11.65%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 10.91% compared to the category average of 12.6%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, BUFIX lost 50.78% and outperformed its peer group by 7.62%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.88, which means it is hypothetically 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.6, which shows that 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, BUFIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 1.28%. BUFIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, Buffalo International Fund has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Buffalo International Fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Non US - Equity, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.