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Is FMI International Fund (FMIJX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Non US - Equity funds, consider FMI International Fund (FMIJX - Free Report) as a possibility. FMIJX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FMIJX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too.

History of Fund/Manager

Fiduciary is based in Milwaukee, WI, and is the manager of FMIJX. The FMI International Fund made its debut in December of 2010 and FMIJX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.16 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.65%, and is in the top 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 7.43%, which places it in the top 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. FMIJX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.13% compared to the category average of 15.77%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.86% compared to the category average of 16.76%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.78, 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. FMIJX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -4.51, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FMIJX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 0.89%. From a cost perspective, FMIJX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; 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, even with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, FMI International Fund ( FMIJX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FMIJX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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