Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Fidelity International Enhanced Index Fund (FIENX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Investors in search of an Index fund might want to consider looking at Fidelity International Enhanced Index Fund . FIENX has no Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, but we have been able to look into other metrics like performance, volatility, and cost.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FIENX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity International Enhanced Index Fund made its debut in January of 2008, and since then, FIENX has accumulated about $1.61 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

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 8.39%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 6.18%, 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. Compared to the category average of 20.22%, the standard deviation of FIENX over the past three years is 18.03%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 14.9% compared to the category average of 16.69%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.84, 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. FIENX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -4.97, which means 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, FIENX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.59% compared to the category average of 0.79%. So, FIENX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

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

Bottom Line

Your research on the Index segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.

Published in