Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Fidelity Emerging Markets Discovery Fund (FEDDX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Emerging Markets Discovery Fund (FEDDX - Free Report) . FEDDX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

FEDDX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Emerging Markets Discovery Fund made its debut in November of 2011, FEDDX has garnered more than $238.26 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Greg Lee who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2014.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 0.35%, 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 2.46%, 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, FEDDX's standard deviation comes in at 21.71%, compared to the category average of 16.41%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.95% compared to the category average of 14.64%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.81, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -6.3, 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, FEDDX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.23% compared to the category average of 1.15%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FEDDX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Emerging Markets Discovery Fund ( FEDDX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FEDDX? 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. 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Fidelity Emerging Markets Discovery (FEDDX) - free report >>

Published in