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Is Wasatch Ultra Growth (WAMCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for Small Cap Growth funds, you might want to consider passing on by Wasatch Ultra Growth (WAMCX - Free Report) as a possibility. WAMCX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
WAMCX is part of the Small Cap Growth category, and this segment boasts an array of many other possible options. Small Cap Growth mutual funds usually focus their portfolios on stocks with large growth opportunities and a market cap of under $2 billion. These portfolios tend to feature small companies in up-and-coming industries and markets.
History of Fund/Manager
Wasatch is based in Salt Lake City, UT, and is the manager of WAMCX. The Wasatch Ultra Growth made its debut in August of 1992 and WAMCX has managed to accumulate roughly $662.92 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, John Malooly, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2012.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.39%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of -12.08%, 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. The standard deviation of WAMCX over the past three years is 26.18% compared to the category average of 18.23%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 27.21% compared to the category average of 19.49%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.23, the fund 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. WAMCX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -7.74, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 87.39% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $6.87 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Health
Turnover is about 22%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than the average comparable fund.
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, WAMCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.25% compared to the category average of 1.06%. WAMCX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wasatch Ultra Growth ( WAMCX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Small Cap Growth funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare WAMCX to its peers as well 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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Is Wasatch Ultra Growth (WAMCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for Small Cap Growth funds, you might want to consider passing on by Wasatch Ultra Growth (WAMCX - Free Report) as a possibility. WAMCX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
WAMCX is part of the Small Cap Growth category, and this segment boasts an array of many other possible options. Small Cap Growth mutual funds usually focus their portfolios on stocks with large growth opportunities and a market cap of under $2 billion. These portfolios tend to feature small companies in up-and-coming industries and markets.
History of Fund/Manager
Wasatch is based in Salt Lake City, UT, and is the manager of WAMCX. The Wasatch Ultra Growth made its debut in August of 1992 and WAMCX has managed to accumulate roughly $662.92 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, John Malooly, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2012.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.39%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of -12.08%, 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. The standard deviation of WAMCX over the past three years is 26.18% compared to the category average of 18.23%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 27.21% compared to the category average of 19.49%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.23, the fund 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. WAMCX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -7.74, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 87.39% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $6.87 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Health
Turnover is about 22%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than the average comparable fund.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, WAMCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.25% compared to the category average of 1.06%. WAMCX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Wasatch Ultra Growth ( WAMCX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Small Cap Growth funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare WAMCX to its peers as well 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.