Is Janus Henderson Enterprise Institutional (JAAGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

There are plenty of choices in the Mid Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Janus Henderson Enterprise Institutional JAAGX. JAAGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

JAAGX is part of the Mid Cap Growth section, a segment that boasts a wide array of possible selections. While Mid Cap Growth mutual funds choose companies with a stock market valuation between $2 billion and $10 billion, stocks in these funds are also expected to show broad considerable growth opportunities for investors compared to their peers. To be considered a growth stock, companies must consistently report impressive sales and/or earnings growth.

History of Fund/Manager

Janus Fund is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of JAAGX. The Janus Henderson Enterprise Institutional made its debut in September of 1993 and JAAGX has managed to accumulate roughly $655.65 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Brian Demain, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2007.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 17.42%, and it sits in the top 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 16.59%, 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 JAAGX over the past three years is 10.53% compared to the category average of 11.64%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 9.69% compared to the category average of 11.21%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. In the most recent bear market, JAAGX lost 52.6% and underperformed its peer group by 1.48%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. JAAGX has a 5-year beta of 0.89, which means it is likely to be less 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. With a positive alpha of 3.01, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, JAAGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 1.16%. So, JAAGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Janus Henderson Enterprise Institutional has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Janus Henderson Enterprise Institutional 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 Mid Cap Growth, 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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