Yahoo Finance Is Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators Fund (IWIRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators Fund (IWIRX) could be a potential option. IWIRX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
IWIRX finds itself in the Guinness Atkinson family, based out of Woodland Hills, CA. Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators Fund made its debut in December of 1998, and since then, IWIRX has accumulated about $100.70 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Matthew Page, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2010.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.67%, 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 12.08%, which places it in the top 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. The standard deviation of IWIRX over the past three years is 22.04% compared to the category average of 19.14%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 21.95% compared to the category average of 16.87%. 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. IWIRX has a 5-year beta of 1.11, which means it 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -3.04. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, IWIRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.24% compared to the category average of 1.11%. IWIRX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $5,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $250.
Bottom Line
Overall, Guinness Atkinson Global Innovators Fund ( IWIRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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