If you have been looking for Non US - Equity funds, a place to start could be VALIC Company II International Small Cap Equity . VISEX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify VISEX 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
VALIC Funds is based in Houston, TX, and is the manager of VISEX. Since VALIC Company II International Small Cap Equity made its debut in September of 2006, VISEX has garnered more than $576.20 million in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.3%, and is 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 13.07%, 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. VISEX's standard deviation over the past three years is 12.96% compared to the category average of 12.85%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 12.52% compared to the category average of 13.43%. This makes the fund less 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. VISEX lost 63.75% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 5%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.85, which means it is hypothetically 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. VISEX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.49, demonstrating 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, VISEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 1.23%. From a cost perspective, VISEX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, VALIC Company II International Small Cap Equity ( VISEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, VALIC Company II International Small Cap Equity ( VISEX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
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 VISEX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is VALIC Company II International Small Cap Equity (VISEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you have been looking for Non US - Equity funds, a place to start could be VALIC Company II International Small Cap Equity . VISEX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify VISEX 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
VALIC Funds is based in Houston, TX, and is the manager of VISEX. Since VALIC Company II International Small Cap Equity made its debut in September of 2006, VISEX has garnered more than $576.20 million in assets. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.3%, and is 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 13.07%, 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. VISEX's standard deviation over the past three years is 12.96% compared to the category average of 12.85%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 12.52% compared to the category average of 13.43%. This makes the fund less 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. VISEX lost 63.75% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 5%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.85, which means it is hypothetically 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. VISEX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.49, demonstrating 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, VISEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 1.23%. From a cost perspective, VISEX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, VALIC Company II International Small Cap Equity ( VISEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, VALIC Company II International Small Cap Equity ( VISEX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
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 VISEX too for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.