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Is Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund (GASFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors who are searching for Index funds should take a look at Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund (GASFX - Free Report) . GASFX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
GASFX is a part of the Hennessy family of funds, a company based out of Novato, CA. Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund made its debut in May of 1989, and since then, GASFX has accumulated about $839.41 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Ryan C. Kelley who has been in charge of the fund since March of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.82%, and it sits in the middle 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 8.11%, which places it in the middle 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. Over the past three years, GASFX's standard deviation comes in at 9.91%, compared to the category average of 7.51%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.58% compared to the category average of 8.68%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In the most recent bear market, GASFX lost 38.58% and outperformed its peer group by 7.56%. This might suggest that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.45, so investors should note that 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 1.82, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, GASFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 0.74%. From a cost perspective, GASFX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Your research on the Index 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.
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Is Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund (GASFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors who are searching for Index funds should take a look at Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund (GASFX - Free Report) . GASFX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.
History of Fund/Manager
GASFX is a part of the Hennessy family of funds, a company based out of Novato, CA. Hennessy Gas Utility Index Fund made its debut in May of 1989, and since then, GASFX has accumulated about $839.41 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Ryan C. Kelley who has been in charge of the fund since March of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.82%, and it sits in the middle 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 8.11%, which places it in the middle 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. Over the past three years, GASFX's standard deviation comes in at 9.91%, compared to the category average of 7.51%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.58% compared to the category average of 8.68%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In the most recent bear market, GASFX lost 38.58% and outperformed its peer group by 7.56%. This might suggest that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a bear market.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.45, so investors should note that 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 1.82, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, GASFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 0.74%. From a cost perspective, GASFX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Your research on the Index 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.