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Is Templeton Developing Markets A (TEDMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, you might want to consider passing on by Templeton Developing Markets A (TEDMX - Free Report) as a possibility. TEDMX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Franklin is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of TEDMX. Templeton Developing Markets A made its debut in October of 1991, and since then, TEDMX has accumulated about $720.08 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Chetan Sehgal is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2017.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -1.84%, and is in the middle 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 -4.88%, 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. TEDMX's standard deviation over the past three years is 23.28% compared to the category average of 18.02%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 20.81% compared to the category average of 15.79%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.8, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. TEDMX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -8.26, which means 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, TEDMX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.38% compared to the category average of 1.15%. From a cost perspective, TEDMX is actually more expensive than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Templeton Developing Markets A ( TEDMX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Templeton Developing Markets A ( TEDMX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on TEDMXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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