If investors are looking at the Mid Cap Growth fund category, Janus Henderson Enterprise A (JDMAX) could be a potential option. JDMAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that JDMAX is a Mid Cap Growth fund, and this area is also loaded with many different options. Companies are usually considered growth stocks when they consistently report notable sales and/or earnings growth. Thus, Mid Cap Growth funds pick stocks--usually companies with a market cap between $2 billion and $10 billion--that demonstrate extensive growth opportunities for investors compared to their peers.

History of Fund/Manager

Janus Fund is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of JDMAX. Since Janus Henderson Enterprise A made its debut in October of 2004, JDMAX has garnered more than $500.35 million in assets. 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 11.35%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 8%, 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 JDMAX over the past three years is 18.53% compared to the category average of 15.12%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 20.21% compared to the category average of 16.1%. 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. JDMAX has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. JDMAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.92, demonstrating 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, JDMAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.11% compared to the category average of 0.96%. JDMAX 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 $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Janus Henderson Enterprise A ( JDMAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mid Cap Growth area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into JDMAX too 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.

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