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Is ProFunds Tech UltraSector Investor (TEPIX) 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 Tech UltraSector Investor (TEPIX - Free Report) . The fund does not have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, though we have been able to explore other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

TEPIX is a part of the ProFunds family of funds, a company based out of Columbus, OH. Since ProFunds Tech UltraSector Investor made its debut in June of 2000, TEPIX has garnered more than $74.93 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Michael Neches, has been in charge of the fund since October of 2013.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. TEPIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 27.7% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 13.76%, which places it in the top 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, TEPIX's standard deviation comes in at 35.66%, compared to the category average of 26.35%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 36.01% compared to the category average of 27.07%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.74, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 9.14. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, TEPIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.58% compared to the category average of 1.40%. TEPIX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $15,000, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

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 TEPIX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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