We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is American Funds New Perspective F (NPFFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
If investors are looking at the Global - Equity fund category, American Funds New Perspective F (NPFFX - Free Report) could be a potential option. NPFFX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
NPFFX is classified in the Global - Equity segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Even though Global - Equity mutual funds invest in bigger markets like the U.S., Europe, and Japan, these kinds of funds aren't limited by geography. Rather, they offer an investment strategy that utilizes the global economy to provide stable returns.
History of Fund/Manager
NPFFX finds itself in the American Funds family, based out of Los Angeles, CA. Since American Funds New Perspective F made its debut in March of 1973, NPFFX has garnered more than $1.83 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
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 10.87%, 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 14.93%, 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 8.87%, the standard deviation of NPFFX over the past three years is 9.85%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.89% compared to the category average of 8.66%. 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. NPFFX lost 49.06% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 3.38%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.93, 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. NPFFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.75, demonstrating 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, NPFFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.82% compared to the category average of 1.19%. NPFFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $250, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds New Perspective F ( NPFFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Global - Equity 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is American Funds New Perspective F (NPFFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Global - Equity fund category, American Funds New Perspective F (NPFFX - Free Report) could be a potential option. NPFFX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
NPFFX is classified in the Global - Equity segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Even though Global - Equity mutual funds invest in bigger markets like the U.S., Europe, and Japan, these kinds of funds aren't limited by geography. Rather, they offer an investment strategy that utilizes the global economy to provide stable returns.
History of Fund/Manager
NPFFX finds itself in the American Funds family, based out of Los Angeles, CA. Since American Funds New Perspective F made its debut in March of 1973, NPFFX has garnered more than $1.83 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
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 10.87%, 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 14.93%, 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 8.87%, the standard deviation of NPFFX over the past three years is 9.85%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.89% compared to the category average of 8.66%. 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. NPFFX lost 49.06% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 3.38%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.93, 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. NPFFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.75, demonstrating 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, NPFFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.82% compared to the category average of 1.19%. NPFFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $250, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Funds New Perspective F ( NPFFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Global - Equity 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.