We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Is American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
On the lookout for a Non US - Equity fund? Starting with American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX - Free Report) is one possibility. TWMIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes TWMIX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of TWMIX. Since American Century Emerging Market Investor made its debut in September of 1997, TWMIX has garnered more than $960.73 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Patricia Ribeiro who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2006.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.27%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 12.91%, 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, TWMIX's standard deviation comes in at 14.22%, compared to the category average of 9.26%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.94% compared to the category average of 11.95%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. TWMIX lost 68.12% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 9.74%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. TWMIX has a 5-year beta of 0.87, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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 -5.09, 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, TWMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.27% compared to the category average of 1.29%. So, TWMIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Emerging Market Investor has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Non US - Equity segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Non US - Equity fund? Starting with American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX - Free Report) is one possibility. TWMIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes TWMIX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of TWMIX. Since American Century Emerging Market Investor made its debut in September of 1997, TWMIX has garnered more than $960.73 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Patricia Ribeiro who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2006.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.27%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 12.91%, 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, TWMIX's standard deviation comes in at 14.22%, compared to the category average of 9.26%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.94% compared to the category average of 11.95%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. TWMIX lost 68.12% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 9.74%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. TWMIX has a 5-year beta of 0.87, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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 -5.09, 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, TWMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.27% compared to the category average of 1.29%. So, TWMIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Emerging Market Investor has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Non US - Equity segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.