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Is Franklin Mutual Global Discovery A (TEDIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Well, Franklin Mutual Global Discovery A (TEDIX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. TEDIX 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

Franklin Templeton is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of TEDIX. Franklin Mutual Global Discovery A debuted in December of 1992. Since then, TEDIX has accumulated assets of about $5.39 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.48%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.95%, 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. TEDIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 19.76% compared to the category average of 15.24%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.78% compared to the category average of 13.47%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.91, 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. TEDIX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -7.75, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, TEDIX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.27% compared to the category average of 1.10%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, TEDIX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Franklin Mutual Global Discovery A ( TEDIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund 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 TEDIX 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.


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