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Is FNMIX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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On the lookout for an International Bond - Emerging fund? Starting with Fidelity New Markets Income (FNMIX - Free Report) is one possibility. FNMIX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that FNMIX is an International Bond - Emerging option, which is loaded with different choices. International Bond - Emerging funds focus on fixed income securities from a variety of emerging international markets. Typically, investors can expect exposure to economies like China, Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia, and many others. These funds are appealing because of their geographic diversification, but this can also mean that currency risk is a factor.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FNMIX. The Fidelity New Markets Income made its debut in May of 1993 and FNMIX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.63 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Jonathan Kelly who has been in charge of the fund since October of 2018.

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 4.18%, and it sits 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 0.77%, which places it in the middle 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. The standard deviation of FNMIX over the past three years is 11.01% compared to the category average of 12.97%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 9.73% compared to the category average of 11.53%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.94, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FNMIX has a positive alpha of 0.54, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, FNMIX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 57.51%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FNMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.82% compared to the category average of 1.14%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FNMIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity New Markets Income ( FNMIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity New Markets Income ( FNMIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FNMIXin the International Bond - Emerging 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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