Any investors hoping to find an Index fund could think about starting with USAA NASDAQ-100 Index Fund (USNQX). USNQX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Victory is responsible for USNQX, and the company is based out of Columbus, OH. Since USAA NASDAQ-100 Index Fund made its debut in October of 2000, USNQX has garnered more than $3.41 billion in assets. The fund’s current manager, Wasif Latif, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2019.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 22.09%, and is 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 25.16%, 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. Over the past three years, USNQX’s standard deviation comes in at 20.72%, compared to the category average of 14.91%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.61% compared to the category average of 12.87%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.06, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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 positive alpha of 6.76. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
This fund is currently holding about 96.47% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $429.59 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Retail Trade
Turnover is about 12%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.
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, USNQX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.44% compared to the category average of 0.81%. So, USNQX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $3,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, USAA NASDAQ-100 Index Fund ( USNQX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, USAA NASDAQ-100 Index Fund ( USNQX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on USNQXin the Index category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
