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Is ProFunds UltraEmerging Markets Investor (UUPIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors who are searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds should take a look at ProFunds UltraEmerging Markets Investor (UUPIX - Free Report) . While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

ProFunds is based in Columbus, OH, and is the manager of UUPIX. ProFunds UltraEmerging Markets Investor made its debut in April of 2006, and since then, UUPIX has accumulated about $10.87 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Alexander Ilyasov who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2020.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -7.63%, 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 -16.25%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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, UUPIX's standard deviation comes in at 49.23%, compared to the category average of 26.05%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 49.04% compared to the category average of 27.2%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. UUPIX has a 5-year beta of 1.7, which means it is likely to be more volatile than 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 -13.36. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, UUPIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.85% compared to the category average of 1.13%. So, UUPIX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $15,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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 UUPIX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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