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Is Baron Emerging Markets Retail (BEXFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Any investors hoping to find a Non US - Equity fund might consider looking past Baron Emerging Markets Retail (BEXFX - Free Report) . BEXFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify BEXFX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.
History of Fund/Manager
BEXFX finds itself in the Baron family, based out of New York, NY. Baron Emerging Markets Retail made its debut in December of 2010, and since then, BEXFX has accumulated about $200.60 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Michael Kass, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. BEXFX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.91%, and it sits in the bottom 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 14.7%, 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 BEXFX over the past three years is 14.1% compared to the category average of 11.96%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.45% compared to the category average of 13.65%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. BEXFX has a 5-year beta of 0.59, which means it 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. BEXFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -7.58, 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, BEXFX is a no load fund and it has an expense ratio of 1.36%.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
With a 'strong sell' rank, Baron Emerging Markets Retail is in the bottom 20% of all mutual funds we cover. This means that our models suggest it is one of the worst options for investors in Non US - Equity right now, though this could change if the performance of the fund and the Zacks Ranks of the equities in BEXFX turnaround in the next data release.
Your research on the Non US - Equity 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is Baron Emerging Markets Retail (BEXFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Any investors hoping to find a Non US - Equity fund might consider looking past Baron Emerging Markets Retail (BEXFX - Free Report) . BEXFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify BEXFX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.
History of Fund/Manager
BEXFX finds itself in the Baron family, based out of New York, NY. Baron Emerging Markets Retail made its debut in December of 2010, and since then, BEXFX has accumulated about $200.60 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Michael Kass, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. BEXFX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.91%, and it sits in the bottom 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 14.7%, 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 BEXFX over the past three years is 14.1% compared to the category average of 11.96%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.45% compared to the category average of 13.65%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. BEXFX has a 5-year beta of 0.59, which means it 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. BEXFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -7.58, 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, BEXFX is a no load fund and it has an expense ratio of 1.36%.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
With a 'strong sell' rank, Baron Emerging Markets Retail is in the bottom 20% of all mutual funds we cover. This means that our models suggest it is one of the worst options for investors in Non US - Equity right now, though this could change if the performance of the fund and the Zacks Ranks of the equities in BEXFX turnaround in the next data release.
Your research on the Non US - Equity 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.