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Is Fidelity Europe (FIEUX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Fidelity Europe (FIEUX - Free Report) at this time. FIEUX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
FIEUX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Europe debuted in October of 1986. Since then, FIEUX has accumulated assets of about $631.64 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.02%, and it sits in the bottom 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 5.32%, which places it in the bottom 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. FIEUX's standard deviation over the past three years is 19.15% compared to the category average of 15.87%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.08% compared to the category average of 14.09%. 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. FIEUX has a 5-year beta of 0.94, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -8.36. This means that 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, FIEUX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.06% compared to the category average of 1.30%. From a cost perspective, FIEUX 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 Europe ( FIEUX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Europe ( FIEUX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FIEUXin 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Fidelity Europe (FIEUX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Fidelity Europe (FIEUX - Free Report) at this time. FIEUX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
FIEUX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Europe debuted in October of 1986. Since then, FIEUX has accumulated assets of about $631.64 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.02%, and it sits in the bottom 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 5.32%, which places it in the bottom 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. FIEUX's standard deviation over the past three years is 19.15% compared to the category average of 15.87%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.08% compared to the category average of 14.09%. 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. FIEUX has a 5-year beta of 0.94, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -8.36. This means that 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, FIEUX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.06% compared to the category average of 1.30%. From a cost perspective, FIEUX 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 Europe ( FIEUX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Europe ( FIEUX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FIEUXin 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.