Yahoo Finance Is Goldman Sachs International Small Cap Insights IR (GIRLX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Goldman Sachs International Small Cap Insights IR (GIRLX) should not be a possibility at this time. GIRLX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Goldman Sachs is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of GIRLX. Goldman Sachs International Small Cap Insights IR made its debut in August of 2010, and since then, GIRLX has accumulated about $89.63 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.68%, and is in the bottom 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 10.41%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.
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, GIRLX's standard deviation comes in at 18.43%, compared to the category average of 16.05%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.7% compared to the category average of 15.97%. 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. GIRLX has a 5-year beta of 0.94, 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -8.89, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, GIRLX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.99% compared to the category average of 1.13%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, GIRLX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Goldman Sachs International Small Cap Insights IR ( GIRLX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
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