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

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On the lookout for a Pacific Rim - Equity fund? Starting with Wasatch Emerging India Fund (WAINX - Free Report) is one possibility. WAINX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Wasatch is based in Salt Lake City, UT, and is the manager of WAINX. Wasatch Emerging India Fund made its debut in April of 2011, and since then, WAINX has accumulated about $238.48 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Ajay Krishnan, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2011.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. WAINX has a 5-year annualized total return of 18.02% and it sits 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 16.91%, 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. The standard deviation of WAINX over the past three years is 17.05% compared to the category average of 13.86%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 17.86% compared to the category average of 13.8%. 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.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. WAINX has a 5-year beta of 0.68, 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. WAINX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 8.08, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, WAINX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.73% compared to the category average of 1.45%. From a cost perspective, WAINX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,000; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, Wasatch Emerging India Fund 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 looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about WAINX? 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. 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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