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Is Janus Henderson Venture D (JANVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Janus Henderson Venture D (JANVX - Free Report) is one possibility. JANVX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Janus Fund is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of JANVX. The Janus Henderson Venture D made its debut in April of 1985 and JANVX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.60 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Jonathan Coleman is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2013.

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 4.41%, and is 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 5.98%, 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. The standard deviation of JANVX over the past three years is 20.02% compared to the category average of 18.52%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 22.59% compared to the category average of 16.4%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.08, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. JANVX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -6.07, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

Right now, 94.76% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks and it has 14% of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Health
  • Industrial Cyclical
With turnover at about 20%, this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.

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, JANVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 1.19%. From a cost perspective, JANVX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Janus Henderson Venture D ( JANVX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Janus Henderson Venture D ( JANVX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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