Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund might consider looking past Fidelity Diversified International Fund (FDIVX Quick QuoteFDIVX - Free Report) . FDIVX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FDIVX. Since Fidelity Diversified International Fund made its debut in December of 1991, FDIVX has garnered more than $7.83 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by William Bower who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2001.

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 3.49%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.16%, 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. Compared to the category average of 19.69%, the standard deviation of FDIVX over the past three years is 20.78%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.99% compared to the category average of 17.17%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.88, 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -4.81, which shows 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, FDIVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.99% compared to the category average of 1.13%. From a cost perspective, FDIVX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Diversified International Fund ( FDIVX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

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