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 T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund (PRASX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Read MoreHide Full Article
On the lookout for a Pacific Rim - Equity fund? Starting with T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund (PRASX - Free Report) is one possibility. PRASX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
PRASX is classified in the Pacific Rim - Equity segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds see big investment opportunities in the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese firms, as Japan mutual funds are very popular.
History of Fund/Manager
PRASX is a part of the T. Rowe Price family of funds, a company based out of Baltimore, MD. Since T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund made its debut in September of 1990, PRASX has garnered more than $2.44 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Anh Lu who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2014.
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 3.7%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 7.2%, 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. PRASX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.65% compared to the category average of 11.9%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.88% compared to the category average of 12.21%. 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, PRASX lost 67.5% and underperformed comparable funds by 9%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds 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. PRASX has a 5-year beta of 0.89, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -4.54. This means 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, PRASX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 1.48%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PRASX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund ( PRASX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund ( PRASX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Pacific Rim - 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 PRASX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
See More Zacks Research for These Tickers
Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:
Image: Bigstock
Is T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund (PRASX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Pacific Rim - Equity fund? Starting with T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund (PRASX - Free Report) is one possibility. PRASX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
PRASX is classified in the Pacific Rim - Equity segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds see big investment opportunities in the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese firms, as Japan mutual funds are very popular.
History of Fund/Manager
PRASX is a part of the T. Rowe Price family of funds, a company based out of Baltimore, MD. Since T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund made its debut in September of 1990, PRASX has garnered more than $2.44 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Anh Lu who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2014.
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 3.7%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 7.2%, 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. PRASX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.65% compared to the category average of 11.9%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.88% compared to the category average of 12.21%. 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, PRASX lost 67.5% and underperformed comparable funds by 9%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds 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. PRASX has a 5-year beta of 0.89, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -4.54. This means 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, PRASX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 1.48%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PRASX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund ( PRASX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price New Asia Fund ( PRASX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Pacific Rim - 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 PRASX too for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.