Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with Fidelity Japan Smaller Companies (FJSCX Quick QuoteFJSCX - Free Report) . FJSCX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FJSCX. The Fidelity Japan Smaller Companies made its debut in November of 1995 and FJSCX has managed to accumulate roughly $457.09 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. David Jenkins is the fund's current manager and has held that role since March of 2014.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.09%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 3.54%, 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. Over the past three years, FJSCX's standard deviation comes in at 13.05%, compared to the category average of 15.11%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 12.23% compared to the category average of 14.3%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.53, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. With a negative alpha of -2.92, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FJSCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 1.43%. So, FJSCX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

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 Japan Smaller Companies ( FJSCX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FJSCXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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. 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.