Is American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

TWMIX

On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. TWMIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of TWMIX. American Century Emerging Market Investor debuted in September of 1997. Since then, TWMIX has accumulated assets of about $322.81 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Patricia Ribeiro who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2006.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of -4.82%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -6.58%, which places it in the bottom 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. Compared to the category average of 17.12%, the standard deviation of TWMIX over the past three years is 20%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.11% compared to the category average of 15.08%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.7, the fund 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. TWMIX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -11.19, 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, TWMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.26% compared to the category average of 1.15%. So, TWMIX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, American Century Emerging Market Investor ( TWMIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, American Century Emerging Market Investor ( TWMIX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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 TWMIX too for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.

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