Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers should consider taking a look at MSIF International Opportunities I (MIOIX Quick QuoteMIOIX - Free Report) . MIOIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

MorgStanley is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of MIOIX. The MSIF International Opportunities I made its debut in March of 2010 and MIOIX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.85 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Kristian Heugh, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2010.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. MIOIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 14.1% 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 10.7%, 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. Over the past three years, MIOIX's standard deviation comes in at 21.17%, compared to the category average of 15.07%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 19.33% compared to the category average of 13.37%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.9, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.09. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, MIOIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.95% compared to the category average of 1.10%. So, MIOIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $5 million, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, MSIF International Opportunities I ( MIOIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, MSIF International Opportunities I ( MIOIX ) looks like a good potential 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 MIOIX too 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.