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Is Kinetics Global Fund No Load (WWWEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Global - Equity fund? Starting with Kinetics Global Fund No Load (WWWEX - Free Report) is one possibility. WWWEX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that WWWEX is a Global - Equity option, an investment area loaded with different options. While Global - Equity mutual funds invest their assets in large markets--think the U.S., Europe, and Japan--they aren't limited by geography. Their investment technique is one that leverages the global economy in order to offer stable returns.
History of Fund/Manager
Kinetics is based in Sleepy Hollow, NY, and is the manager of WWWEX. Kinetics Global Fund No Load made its debut in February of 2003, and since then, WWWEX has accumulated about $7.55 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Murray Stahl, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2003.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.24%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.01%, 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. The standard deviation of WWWEX over the past three years is 16.2% compared to the category average of 11.11%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.24% compared to the category average of 10.77%. This makes the fund more 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, WWWEX lost 58.45% and outperformed its peer group by 6.01%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.8, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.49. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, WWWEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.76% compared to the category average of 1.19%. So, WWWEX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Kinetics Global Fund No Load has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Global - 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 WWWEX 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 Kinetics Global Fund No Load (WWWEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Global - Equity fund? Starting with Kinetics Global Fund No Load (WWWEX - Free Report) is one possibility. WWWEX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that WWWEX is a Global - Equity option, an investment area loaded with different options. While Global - Equity mutual funds invest their assets in large markets--think the U.S., Europe, and Japan--they aren't limited by geography. Their investment technique is one that leverages the global economy in order to offer stable returns.
History of Fund/Manager
Kinetics is based in Sleepy Hollow, NY, and is the manager of WWWEX. Kinetics Global Fund No Load made its debut in February of 2003, and since then, WWWEX has accumulated about $7.55 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Murray Stahl, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2003.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.24%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.01%, 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. The standard deviation of WWWEX over the past three years is 16.2% compared to the category average of 11.11%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.24% compared to the category average of 10.77%. This makes the fund more 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, WWWEX lost 58.45% and outperformed its peer group by 6.01%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.8, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.49. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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, WWWEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.76% compared to the category average of 1.19%. So, WWWEX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Kinetics Global Fund No Load has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Global - 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 WWWEX 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.