Janus Aspen Balanced InstlJABLX

Fund Research and Analysis

by Michelle Canavan

Janus Aspen Balanced continues to make a strong case for itself. After a sluggish 2010, this fund has bounced back well, showcasing comanagers Gibson Smith and Marc Pinto’s ability to navigate challenging market environments. The fund returned 1.3% Read more

Process Pillar:Positive

Marc Pinto uses a conservative growth strategy to guide the stock portion of the fund. He seeks large-cap firms with good business models, strong competitive positions, and improving fundamentals; he Read more

Performance Pillar:Positive

Since Smith and Pinto began managing this fund in May 2005, the fund has outperformed the moderate-allocation category average by 3.5 percentage points annualized through June 30, with just 88% of the Read more

People Pillar:Positive

Gibson Smith and Marc Pinto have managed this fund since May 2005. Smith guides the bond selection, Pinto is responsible for the equity sleeve, and they collaborate on asset-allocation decisions. Smith joined Janus in 2001 and is also the firm’s co-CIO Read more

Price Pillar:Positive

Roughly 48% of this fund’s assets are in the Institutional share class, whose 0.58% expense ratio is low compared with similarly distributed moderate-allocation funds'. The remaining fund assets are Read more