Looking for a Non US - Equity fund? You may want to consider Fidelity International Small Cap (FISMX Quick QuoteFISMX - Free Report) as a possible option. FISMX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify FISMX 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

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FISMX. Fidelity International Small Cap made its debut in September of 2002, and since then, FISMX has accumulated about $1.64 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. David Jenkins is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2021.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FISMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.58%, and it sits 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 11.15%, 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. The standard deviation of FISMX over the past three years is 12.53% compared to the category average of 10.83%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 14.44% compared to the category average of 13.05%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.7, 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. FISMX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.34, 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, FISMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.90% compared to the category average of 0.95%. From a cost perspective, FISMX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; 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

Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity International Small Cap ( FISMX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FISMX 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.