International Bond - Emerging fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Fidelity New Markets Income (FNMIX Quick QuoteFNMIX - Free Report) at this time. FNMIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that FNMIX is an International Bond - Emerging option, which is loaded with different choices. International Bond - Emerging funds focus on fixed income securities from a variety of emerging international markets. Typically, investors can expect exposure to economies like China, Brazil, India, South Africa, Indonesia, and many others. These funds are appealing because of their geographic diversification, but this can also mean that currency risk is a factor.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FNMIX. The Fidelity New Markets Income made its debut in May of 1993 and FNMIX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.44 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Timothy Gill who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2019.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.39%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 2.56%, which places it in the middle 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 13.93%, the standard deviation of FNMIX over the past three years is 11.53%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9.81% compared to the category average of 11.84%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 0.74, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FNMIX has a positive alpha of 2.34, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, FNMIX 's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 57.51%. This means that the fund has an average quality of BBB, and focuses on medium quality securities.

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, FNMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.82% compared to the category average of 1.14%. From a cost perspective, FNMIX 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, Fidelity New Markets Income ( FNMIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity New Markets Income ( FNMIX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FNMIX? 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.