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Is Schwab International Core Equity (SICNX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Non US - Equity fund? Schwab International Core Equity (SICNX - Free Report) is a possible starting point. SICNX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes SICNX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets.
History of Fund/Manager
SICNX finds itself in the Schwab Funds family, based out of San Francisco, CA. Schwab International Core Equity debuted in May of 2008. Since then, SICNX has accumulated assets of about $747.47 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Wei Li, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2013.
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 12.41%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 19.3%, 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. The standard deviation of SICNX over the past three years is 15.21% compared to the category average of 16.99%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.31% compared to the category average of 16.26%. This makes the fund less 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. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. SICNX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.84, demonstrating 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, SICNX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.86% compared to the category average of 0.80%. SICNX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Schwab International Core Equity ( SICNX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on SICNX in the Non US - Equity 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is Schwab International Core Equity (SICNX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Non US - Equity fund? Schwab International Core Equity (SICNX - Free Report) is a possible starting point. SICNX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes SICNX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets.
History of Fund/Manager
SICNX finds itself in the Schwab Funds family, based out of San Francisco, CA. Schwab International Core Equity debuted in May of 2008. Since then, SICNX has accumulated assets of about $747.47 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Wei Li, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2013.
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 12.41%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 19.3%, 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. The standard deviation of SICNX over the past three years is 15.21% compared to the category average of 16.99%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.31% compared to the category average of 16.26%. This makes the fund less 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. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. SICNX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.84, demonstrating 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, SICNX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.86% compared to the category average of 0.80%. SICNX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Schwab International Core Equity ( SICNX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on SICNX in the Non US - Equity 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.