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If you've been stuck searching for International Bond - Emerging funds, you might want to consider passing on by T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond (PREMX - Free Report) as a possibility. PREMX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify PREMX in the International Bond - Emerging category, an area rife with many investment choices. International Bond - Emerging funds focus on fixed income securities from emerging nations from around the globe. This usually results in exposure to economies like China, Brazil, India, South Africa, and Indonesia, just to name a few. Funds here offer geographic diversification, but they can also introduce currency risk into the picture as well.
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 $352 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Samy Muaddi, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2020.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PREMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 2.71% and it sits 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 5.93%, 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. The standard deviation of PREMX over the past three years is 10.64% compared to the category average of 12.29%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.26% compared to the category average of 12.15%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.35, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PREMX has a positive alpha of 4.7, 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 38.4% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 53.3%, giving PREMX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
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, PREMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.98% compared to the category average of 0.94%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PREMX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $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 similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond ( PREMX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Your research on the International Bond - Emerging segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is PREMX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for International Bond - Emerging funds, you might want to consider passing on by T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond (PREMX - Free Report) as a possibility. PREMX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify PREMX in the International Bond - Emerging category, an area rife with many investment choices. International Bond - Emerging funds focus on fixed income securities from emerging nations from around the globe. This usually results in exposure to economies like China, Brazil, India, South Africa, and Indonesia, just to name a few. Funds here offer geographic diversification, but they can also introduce currency risk into the picture as well.
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 $352 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Samy Muaddi, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2020.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PREMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 2.71% and it sits 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 5.93%, 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. The standard deviation of PREMX over the past three years is 10.64% compared to the category average of 12.29%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.26% compared to the category average of 12.15%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.35, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, PREMX has a positive alpha of 4.7, 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 38.4% in medium quality bonds, with ratings of 'A' to 'BBB'. The fund's junk bond component-bonds rated 'BB' or below-is at 53.3%, giving PREMX an average quality of BBB. This means that it focuses on medium quality securities.
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, PREMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.98% compared to the category average of 0.94%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, PREMX is actually more expensive than its peers.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $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 similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Bond ( PREMX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Your research on the International Bond - Emerging segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.