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Is American Century NT Emerging Markets Institutional (ACLKX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Non US - Equity fund category, a potential starting could be American Century NT Emerging Markets Institutional . ACLKX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify ACLKX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.

History of Fund/Manager

ACLKX is a part of the American Century family of funds, a company based out of Kansas City, MO. American Century NT Emerging Markets Institutional made its debut in May of 2006, and since then, ACLKX has accumulated about $457.57 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Patricia Ribeiro, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2006.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. ACLKX has a 5-year annualized total return of 6.44% 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 12.39%, 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 ACLKX over the past three years is 13.48% compared to the category average of 12.2%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 14.58% compared to the category average of 13.02%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In the most recent bear market, ACLKX lost 67.54% and underperformed its peer group by 9.08%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.8, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.16, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, ACLKX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.01% compared to the category average of 1.20%. ACLKX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Century NT Emerging Markets Institutional ( ACLKX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

For additional information on the Non US - Equity 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 ACLKX 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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