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Is Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities (FSCOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Non US - Equity fund? Starting with Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities (FSCOX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. FSCOX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FSCOX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.
History of Fund/Manager
FSCOX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities made its debut in August of 2005 and FSCOX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.31 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Jed Weiss who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2008.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FSCOX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.13% and is 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 8.31%, 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. FSCOX's standard deviation over the past three years is 16.96% compared to the category average of 16.03%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 14.48% compared to the category average of 13.52%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.82, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, FSCOX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.25% compared to the category average of 1.19%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSCOX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities ( FSCOX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FSCOX? 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 International Small Cap Opportunities (FSCOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Non US - Equity fund? Starting with Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities (FSCOX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. FSCOX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FSCOX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.
History of Fund/Manager
FSCOX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities made its debut in August of 2005 and FSCOX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.31 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Jed Weiss who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2008.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FSCOX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.13% and is 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 8.31%, 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. FSCOX's standard deviation over the past three years is 16.96% compared to the category average of 16.03%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 14.48% compared to the category average of 13.52%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.82, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, FSCOX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.25% compared to the category average of 1.19%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSCOX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity International Small Cap Opportunities ( FSCOX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FSCOX? 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.