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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund might consider looking past T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond (PREMX - Free Report) . PREMX has 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
T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PREMX. T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond made its debut in December of 1994, and since then, PREMX has accumulated about $564 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Samy Muaddi is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June of 2020.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PREMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.37% and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -3.82%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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, PREMX's standard deviation comes in at 11.51%, compared to the category average of 13.02%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 13.13% compared to the category average of 14.07%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.22, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PREMX has a positive alpha of 0.58, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, PREMX has 36.96% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 54.51%, giving PREMX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
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, PREMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 0.94%. So, PREMX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond ( PREMX ) 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.
This could just be the start of your research on PREMXin the Mutual Fund Bond 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.
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Is PREMX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Bond fund might consider looking past T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond (PREMX - Free Report) . PREMX has 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
T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PREMX. T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond made its debut in December of 1994, and since then, PREMX has accumulated about $564 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Samy Muaddi is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June of 2020.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PREMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.37% and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -3.82%, which places it in the middle third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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, PREMX's standard deviation comes in at 11.51%, compared to the category average of 13.02%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 13.13% compared to the category average of 14.07%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 0.22, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PREMX has a positive alpha of 0.58, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Investors should also consider a bond's rating, which is a grade ( 'AAA' to 'D' ) given to a bond that indicates its credit quality. With this letter scale in mind, PREMX has 36.96% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 54.51%, giving PREMX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
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, PREMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 0.94%. So, PREMX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond ( PREMX ) 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.
This could just be the start of your research on PREMXin the Mutual Fund Bond 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.