Is Janus Henderson Global Life Science A (JFNAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

If you have been looking for Sector - Health funds, a place to start could be Janus Henderson Global Life Science A (JFNAX). JFNAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.ObjectiveThe world of Sector - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as JFNAX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.History of Fund/ManagerJanus Fund is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of JFNAX. Janus Henderson Global Life Science A made its debut in July of 2009, and since then, JFNAX has accumulated about $5.40 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Andrew Acker is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2009.PerformanceOf course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.4%, and is in the top 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 11.43%, 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. The standard deviation of JFNAX over the past three years is 15.2% compared to the category average of 11.63%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.36% compared to the category average of 13.29%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.Risk FactorsInvestors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. JFNAX has a 5-year beta of 0.62, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. JFNAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.35, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.ExpensesAs 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, JFNAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.00% compared to the category average of 0.96%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, JFNAX is actually more expensive than its peers.Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.Bottom LineOverall, even with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Janus Henderson Global Life Science A ( JFNAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Health 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 JFNAX to its peers as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.9% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks