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Is FEMDX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Bond fund? Starting with Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunity Adviser (FEMDX - Free Report) is one possibility. FEMDX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Franklin Templeton is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of FEMDX. Since Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunity Adviser made its debut in October of 2006, FEMDX has garnered more than $140.68 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Nicholas Hardingham, 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 has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.33%, and is 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 5.96%, 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. FEMDX's standard deviation over the past three years is 11.62% compared to the category average of 11.8%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 9.58% compared to the category average of 9.79%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

FEMDX carries a beta of 0.42, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 3.8, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, FEMDX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 1.12%. So, FEMDX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1 million, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunity Adviser ( FEMDX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunity Adviser ( FEMDX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Bond funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FEMDX to its peers as well 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.


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