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Is MSIF Global Opportunity Portfolio A (MGGPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, you might want to consider passing on by MSIF Global Opportunity Portfolio A (MGGPX - Free Report) as a possibility. MGGPX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

MGGPX is a part of the MorgStanley family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. MSIF Global Opportunity Portfolio A debuted in May of 2010. Since then, MGGPX has accumulated assets of about $1.54 billion, according to the most recently available information. Kristian Heugh is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2010.

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 6.97%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 2.68%, which places it in the bottom 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 MGGPX over the past three years is 23.49% compared to the category average of 16.37%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 20.69% compared to the category average of 14.53%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.03, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -4.91. 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, MGGPX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.20% compared to the category average of 1.10%. So, MGGPX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, MSIF Global Opportunity Portfolio A ( MGGPX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, MSIF Global Opportunity Portfolio A ( MGGPX ) looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about MGGPX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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