Top Non-US Equity Funds

Today we are featuring top-performing “Non-US" equity mutual funds, which primarily invest in equity securities of companies located outside the United States.

Investors can find such funds by checking out the entire list of the Zacks #1 Rank Non-US Equity Funds.

3 Great Examples

Lord Abbett International Opp A (LAIEX) seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing in stocks of companies principally based outside the United States. It was incepted in December 1996.

The fund normally intends to invest at least 65% of its net assets in stocks of small companies, those with market capitalizations of less than $2.5 billion. The fund may also invest in stocks of larger companies.

Shareholders have to make a minimum initial investment of $1,000 to enter this Zacks#1 Rank (“Strong Buy”) fund... The fund offers dividends and capital gains annually.

Todd D. Jacobson has been lead manager of the fund since December 2003. Jacobson is a Chartered Financial Analyst and was head of Japanese Equities and associate portfolio manager at Warburg Pincus Asset Management before joining Lord Abbett.

Oppenheimer International Small Company A (OSMAX) was incepted in November 1997. The investment seeks long-term capital appreciation.

The fund invests mainly in common stock of companies that are domiciled outside the United States or have their primary operations outside the U.S. and have market capitalizations of $2.5 billion or less. The fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of small-cap issuers.

Opera Software SA, Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp, Uranium Participation Corp are among the fund’s key holdings. The fund offers dividends and capital gains, if any, annually in December.

Rohit Sah has been lead manager of the fund since January 2004. The fund has an expense ratio of 1.53%.

Principal International Emerging Mkts A (PRIAX) seeks long-term growth of capital by investing primarily in equity securities of issuers in emerging market countries. It was incepted in August 1997.

The fund normally invests at least 80% of net assets in equity securities of emerging market countries. For this fund, the term 'emerging market country' means any country that is considered to be an emerging country by the international financial community. These countries generally include every nation in the world except the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and most nations located in Western Europe.

The fund has an expense ratio of 2.31%. As of July 2009, it has a portfolio turnover of 146%.

Michael L. Reynal has been lead manager of the fund since March 2001. Prior to joining Principal Financial Group, Reynal was with Wafra Investment Advisory Group, Inc.

Discover Many More Funds

Learn more about the new Zacks Mutual Fund Rank and discover some of the best market-beating mutual funds by browsing our mutual funds section. This part of Zacks.com offers a variety of tools, including mutual fund research, a new mutual fund screener, helpful answers to frequently asked questions and quick access to prospectuses and other information.

By applying the Zacks Rank to mutual funds, investors can find funds that not only outpaced the market in the past but are also expected to outperform going forward.