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Is T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock (PRMSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Non US - Equity funds, you might want to consider passing on by T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock (PRMSX - Free Report) as a possibility. PRMSX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes PRMSX 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

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PRMSX. Since T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock made its debut in March of 1995, PRMSX has garnered more than $611.00 million in assets. Wenhi Zheng is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2025.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. PRMSX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.24%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 14.11%, which places it in the bottom 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 11.29%, the standard deviation of PRMSX over the past three years is 13.18%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.7% compared to the category average of 13.63%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.58, so investors should note that it is hypothetically 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -7.9, which shows that 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, PRMSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.23% compared to the category average of 0.98%. PRMSX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to 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, T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock ( PRMSX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock ( PRMSX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on PRMSX 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 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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