On the lookout for a Pacific Rim - Equity fund? Starting with Fidelity Pacific Basin (FPBFX Quick QuoteFPBFX - Free Report) is one possibility. FPBFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FPBFX is classified in the Pacific Rim - Equity segment by Zacks, which is an area full of possibilities. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds see big investment opportunities in the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. These funds also invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese firms, as Japan mutual funds are very popular.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FPBFX. Since Fidelity Pacific Basin made its debut in October of 1986, FPBFX has garnered more than $1.03 billion in assets. The fund's current manager, Kirk Neureiter, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2019.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.65%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 17.73%, 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. FPBFX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.86% compared to the category average of 12.99%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.03% compared to the category average of 16.45%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.83, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.92, 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, FPBFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.98% compared to the category average of 0.93%. FPBFX 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, even with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Fidelity Pacific Basin ( FPBFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Pacific Rim - Equity, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.