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Is Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund (FSEAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Pacific Rim - Equity fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund (FSEAX - Free Report) . FSEAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FSEAX is one of many Pacific Rim - Equity funds to choose from. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds typically invest in companies throughout the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. Since Japan mutual funds are already popular in their own right, these Pacific funds will usually invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese companies.
History of Fund/Manager
FSEAX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund debuted in April of 1993. Since then, FSEAX has accumulated assets of about $1.88 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Xiaoting Zhao, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2019.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 21.24%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 21.27%, 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. Compared to the category average of 18.99%, the standard deviation of FSEAX over the past three years is 19.94%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.47% compared to the category average of 16.41%. 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. FSEAX has a 5-year beta of 0.83, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. FSEAX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 9.17, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FSEAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.15% compared to the category average of 1.44%. FSEAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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 Emerging Asia Fund ( FSEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund ( FSEAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FSEAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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Is Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund (FSEAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Pacific Rim - Equity fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund (FSEAX - Free Report) . FSEAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FSEAX is one of many Pacific Rim - Equity funds to choose from. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds typically invest in companies throughout the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. Since Japan mutual funds are already popular in their own right, these Pacific funds will usually invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese companies.
History of Fund/Manager
FSEAX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund debuted in April of 1993. Since then, FSEAX has accumulated assets of about $1.88 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Xiaoting Zhao, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2019.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 21.24%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 21.27%, 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. Compared to the category average of 18.99%, the standard deviation of FSEAX over the past three years is 19.94%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.47% compared to the category average of 16.41%. 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. FSEAX has a 5-year beta of 0.83, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. FSEAX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 9.17, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FSEAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.15% compared to the category average of 1.44%. FSEAX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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 Emerging Asia Fund ( FSEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund ( FSEAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FSEAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.