Those who are reluctant to take steep risks with their hard-earned money could look into JP Morgan Value Advantage Fund or a similar mutual fund. It is a relatively safer route to go, especially for beginners.
Money in any savings account is as good as idle money. Whether a person is a small enterprise owner or a job holder, their income is certainly limited.
As such, their best opportunity to increase their wealth is to invest in various stocks, bonds, money market accounts, real estate, or mutual funds wisely.
Of course, there is no guarantee that anyone will reap benefits from those investments. It is a risk that one must be prepared to take.
What Is a Mutual Fund?
Mutual funds pool money from various investors. Then, they invest that money in diverse securities, such as bonds, stocks, hybrid funds, etc. These funds are available in one of three structures: Unit Investment Trusts (UIT), Open-End Fund, and Closed-End Fund (CEF).
- The UIT is a type of Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). It offers a fixed portfolio of securities and has a fixed lifetime. Unlike its counterparts, it has no board of directors. Keep in mind that ETF are not considered mutual funds.
- The Open-End Fund allows investors to purchase shares straight from the fund at the net asset value (NAV) at the close of the trading day. Some popular examples of Open-End Fund include hedge funds and U. S. Mutual Fund. Keep in mind that hedge funds are not considered mutual funds.
- In the CEF, the managers cannot create new shares to satisfy growing demands from investors. The shares are traded in the market. They are not redeemable from the fund itself. Usually, global stock exchanges are responsible for Closed-End fund trades, such as NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, etc.
Advantages of a Mutual Fund
Mutual funds provide several benefits to investors. As a result, it is often a lucrative investment opportunity for them, especially for newcomers. Some of the primary advantages include:
- Diversification
Any wise investor is likely to put their money in different portfolios to reduce the risk. Investing everything into one portfolio is dangerous. Many people learned this harsh lesson the hard way during the financial crisis.
- Convenience:
Of course, investing in a mutual fund is more convenient than purchasing individual shares. Sometimes, some shares from a mutual fund are enough to satisfy the minimum investment criteria.
Hence, many investors prefer mutual funds over individual shares.
Also, mutual funds are managed by portfolio managers, who are responsible for market analysis, research, and ultimate decision-making.
As such, the investors are not concerned with these aspects of their investment.
- Costs
Regular stock trading can result in significant expenses for individual investors. As a result, they might find that the costs have offset the gains from the price appreciation of a stock.
Finally, it forces most frequent investors to look for brokers who charge relatively low fees to keep up with the expenses. However, the cost of trading is spread over all investors in a mutual fund. As such, the cost per investor is relatively low.
These benefits can be enjoyed by all investors who choose to invest in mutual funds, such as the JP Morgan Value Advantage Fund.
Disadvantages of Mutual Funds
As profitable as it may look, mutual funds do have their fair share of disadvantages as well. Some of these include:
- High Maintenance Fees
The expense ratios and sales charges can go out of hand if the investors are not careful enough. Any mutual fund with expense ratios greater than 1.50% is considered to be high-end.
As such, the expenses from the mutual funds are likely to be higher. Plus, many mutual funds carry various costs with them, such as sales charges, penalties for early withdrawals, yearly expense fees, etc.
In addition, they can also charge a commission for each purchase and sale.
- Poor Execution of Trade
Time is of the essence whenever an individual is trading stocks. However, that is not the case with mutual funds. Their weak execution strategy often hinders investors from getting greater gains.
- Lack of Control
The investors have no control over the portfolio because a dedicated manager is responsible for doing so. As a result, the manager may not acknowledge or welcome input from the investors.
- Management Abuse
If the portfolio manager is abusing his position, the investors may suffer from window dressing, churnings, or turnover. It could include several unwarranted trading, undue replacements, etc., to adjust the books and make them appear profitable to potential investors.
- Taxation
When the mutual fund manager buys or sells a stock, it results in either capital gains or losses. The investors need to bear these capital gains and, thus, deal with the taxes.
JP Morgan Value Advantage Fund
Based in New York City, NY, USA, the American multinational company JP Morgan Chase & Co. has been in the business for 21 years now.
In two decades, the company managed to become the largest bank in the world by market capitalization. So how is that possible?
The present structure of the company is the result of several large-scale mergers throughout its history. Companies part of these mergers and acquisitions include Washington Mutual, Chase Manhattan Bank, Bear Stearns, J.P. Morgan & Co., Bank One, Chemical Bank, National Bank of Detroit, and Chicago Bank, among many others.
One of its subsidiaries, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, is responsible for providing lucrative investment opportunities to potential investors. They provide countless moneymaking mutual funds and investment opportunities with relatively low risk.
One of those happens to be the JP Morgan Value Advantage Fund that was launched in February 2005. The primary objective of this specific fund is to provide a long-term total return to investors from both capital gains and income.
Share Class or Share Classification
While mutual funds provide great earning scope for investors, the number of available mutual funds is surprisingly capable of overwhelming veteran investors or traders.
If an individual is looking to invest in the above-mentioned JP Morgan Value Advantage Funds, they should know that these funds are offered in various share classes.
There are numerous types of mutual fund share classes. All of these classifications have their advantages and disadvantages. The key variance in these share classifications is the expenses and fees related to them.
Choosing the appropriate share class is vital for all investors. As a result, it would be ideal for investors to consult advisors to direct them in the correct direction.
In short, there are eight share classes – Share Class A, Share Class B, Share Class C, Share Class D, Share Class ADV, Class Inst Share Funds, Load-Waived Funds, and Share Class R.
- Share Class A: The Share Class A mutual funds have loads. Loads are front-end sales charges, which is a fee for the services provided by an investment consultant. It can be 5%, or it could be greater than that. So, if an individual purchases $20,000 of mutual fund share class A, they will pay a commission of 5%, i.e., $1000. So, their investment would be $19,000. This class is ideal for individuals who invest a large amount of money but trade infrequently. It is suitable for investors who plan to hold it for the long term (usually more than eight years).
- Share Class B: The Share Class B mutual funds do not have loads. They charge contingent deferred sales charge (CDSE), also known as a back-end load. These shares also have greater 12b-1 fees for marketing than other share classes. The CDSE typically disappear after a period of one year from the purchase date. If the investors hold it long enough, they can bypass the Share Class A load with an exchange.
- Share Class C: The Share Class C mutual funds charge an annual fee, usually 1%. The fees remain as long as you trade. Hence, they are the most expensive share class. These are suitable for investment advisors or brokers. However, it would be apt to use Share Class C if you plan on trading on a short-term basis, i.e. for less than three years.
- Share Class D: The Share Class D mutual funds and no-load funds are alike. Class D is an ideal substitute to Share Class A, B, and C. This class only requires an annual sales fee of 1% approximately.
- Share Class ADV: The Share Class ADV mutual funds are strictly available through a licensed investment advisor. While they are no-load funds, they do have 12b-1 fees. These fees can be as high as 0.50%. For investors working with professional advisors, Share Class ADV is the perfect choice because of its lower expenses.
- Class Inst Share Funds: This particular classification is only available to institutional investors, who can invest a minimal amount of $25,000. This class usually has lower expense ratios than the other classes. The Inst Funds involve Class I, X, Y, and Z.
- Load-Waived Funds: Load-Waives mutual funds are substitutes to the loaded funds.
- Share Class R: The letter “R” sort of refers to retirement. The Share Class R mutual funds do not have load and range from R1 to R6. The range of its 12b-1 fees is 0.25-0.50%. This class of mutual funds is only available through job-sponsored retirement plans.
The JP Morgan Value Advantage Fund’s Share Classification
JP Morgan encourages all sorts of investors to take the benefits of its various investment schemes, including the JP Morgan Value Advantage Fund.
In light of that, they offer this mutual fund in different share classes. These are: Share Class A (Fund Name: JVAAX), Share Class C (Fund Name: JVACX), Share Class I (Fund Name: JVASX), and Share Class L (Fund Name: JVAIX).
They also provide retirement plans ranging from Share Class R2 (Fund Name: JGAQX), Share Class R3 (Fund Name: JVAPX), Share Class R4 (Fund Name: JVAQX), Share Class R5 (Fund Name: JVARX), and Share Class R6 (Fund Name: JVAYX).
JP Morgan Value Advantage Fund Portfolio Manager and Stats
The JP Morgan value advantage fund is managed by Jonathan K.L. Simon, Lawrence E. Playford, and Graham Spence. Mr. Simon is an expert veteran portfolio manager with over 41 years of experience in the industry.
Plus, he has been managing this specific fund for the last 16 years. Next, Mr. Playford also has been managing the portfolio for the last 16 years, and he possesses over 28 years of experience in the industry.
Last but not least, Mr. Spence has been involved with this fund for only one year. Yet, he has experience of over 16 years in the industry.
The following stats are for the above-mentioned mutual fund. It has 127 holdings as of 29th November 2021, with its assets valued at USD 10.29 billion.
It also has a turnover ratio of 33.89%, while its P/E Ratio is 1.97.
Its top ten holdings include Bank of America Corp. [4%], Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (Class B) [2.5%], AbbVie, Inc. [2.0%], Wells Fargo & Co. [1.9%], Capital One Financial Corp. [1.7%], Loews Corp. [1.7%], Travelers Cos., Inc. [1.7%], Verizon Communications, Inc.[1.7%], ConocoPhillips [1.6%], and M&T Bank Corp [1.6%].
But, surprisingly, the listed top ten holdings cover only 20.4% of the mutual fund, not including cash and money markets.
Other than that, its top five contributors (quarterly) are ConocoPhillips [0.36%], Bank of America Corp. [0.28%], AutoZone, Inc. [0.24%], Coterra Energy, Inc. [0.17%], and Lowe’s Cos., Inc. [0.16%].
Is the JP Morgan Value Advantage Fund Worth It?
New and veteran investors are likely to be concerned about the feasibility of JP Morgan Value Advantage Fund. Hence, they will question its profitability and viability.
Their concerns are justified in the present market. So, the short answer to their question is – yes, it is worth investing in it. Why? Veteran portfolio managers are handling it with great prowess, and it has 127 holdings.
Other than that, last year, the JVAAX has returned 45.56%. Over the past three years, it also returned 10%. The diversified portfolio ensures lower risk, and it has an expense ratio of 1.14% only.
While some of its share classes have seen a decline, others have seen a rise. Nonetheless, it is still performing better than other mutual funds. Needless to say, it is an investor’s duty to do their due diligence before investing their hard-earned money.