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Is Wasatch Emerging India Fund (WAINX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Wasatch Emerging India Fund (WAINX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. WAINX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Wasatch is responsible for WAINX, and the company is based out of Salt Lake City, UT. The Wasatch Emerging India Fund made its debut in April of 2011 and WAINX has managed to accumulate roughly $210.26 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Ajay Krishnan, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2011.

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 6.76%, 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 6.72%, 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. Over the past three years, WAINX's standard deviation comes in at 26.11%, compared to the category average of 21%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 22.52% compared to the category average of 18.44%. 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 0.69, so it is likely going to be 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. WAINX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 1.12, 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, WAINX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.51% compared to the category average of 1.27%. So, WAINX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,000 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, Wasatch Emerging India Fund ( WAINX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Wasatch Emerging India Fund ( WAINX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into WAINX too for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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