Back to top

Image: Bigstock

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

Read MoreHide Full Article

Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Janus Henderson Venture D (JANVX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. 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 $1.71 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.3%, 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 -1.76%, which places it in the middle 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. The standard deviation of JANVX over the past three years is 20.44% compared to the category average of 15.76%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 23.02% compared to the category average of 16.51%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.1, 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -5.25, which shows 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, JANVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 1%. From a cost perspective, JANVX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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

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

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, this fund 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. 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Janus Henderson Venture D (JANVX) - free report >>

Published in