Have you been searching for a Global - Equity fund? You might want to begin with T. Rowe Price Global Growth Stock Retail (RPGEX Quick QuoteRPGEX - Free Report) . RPGEX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

RPGEX is classified in the Global - Equity segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Even though Global - Equity mutual funds invest in bigger markets like the U.S., Europe, and Japan, these kinds of funds aren't limited by geography. Rather, they offer an investment strategy that utilizes the global economy to provide stable returns.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of RPGEX. The T. Rowe Price Global Growth Stock Retail made its debut in October of 2008 and RPGEX has managed to accumulate roughly $403.55 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, R. Scott Berg, has been in charge of the fund since October of 2008.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. RPGEX has a 5-year annualized total return of 4.73%, and is 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 16.95%, 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 RPGEX over the past three years is 10.32% compared to the category average of 11.06%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.74% compared to the category average of 13.4%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.91, 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. RPGEX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -7.48, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, RPGEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.91% compared to the category average of 0.95%. So, RPGEX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Global Growth Stock Retail ( RPGEX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Global - 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 RPGEX too 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.