Pacific Rim - Equity fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund (FSEAX Quick QuoteFSEAX - Free Report) . FSEAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

The world of Pacific Rim - Equity funds is an area filled with options, such as FSEAX. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds usually invest in companies with a big presence in the export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese companies since Japan mutual funds are incredibly popular.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FSEAX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund made its debut in April of 1993, FSEAX has garnered more than $971.90 million in assets. Xiaoting Zhao is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June of 2019.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 7.03%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -1.66%, 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. Compared to the category average of 21.31%, the standard deviation of FSEAX over the past three years is 23.15%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 23.32% compared to the category average of 21.21%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.7, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. FSEAX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -1.98, which means 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, FSEAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.62% compared to the category average of 1.25%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSEAX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund ( FSEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Pacific Rim - Equity 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 FSEAX too 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.