If you're looking for a Global - Equity fund category, then a potential option is American Funds New Perspective F1 (NPFFX). NPFFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that NPFFX is a Global - Equity option, an investment area loaded with different options. While Global - Equity mutual funds invest their assets in large markets--think the U.S., Europe, and Japan--they aren't limited by geography. Their investment technique is one that leverages the global economy in order to offer stable returns.

History of Fund/Manager

NPFFX is a part of the American Funds family of funds, a company based out of Los Angeles, CA. American Funds New Perspective F1 made its debut in March of 1973, and since then, NPFFX has accumulated about $1.58 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. NPFFX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.16% and is in the top 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 10.23%, which places it in the middle 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. NPFFX's standard deviation over the past three years is 16.36% compared to the category average of 14.29%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.45% compared to the category average of 15.29%. 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. NPFFX 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. NPFFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.32, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.