Any investors hoping to find a Non US - Equity fund could think about starting with American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX Quick QuoteTWMIX - Free Report) . TWMIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify TWMIX 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

American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of TWMIX. Since American Century Emerging Market Investor made its debut in September of 1997, TWMIX has garnered more than $429.26 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Patricia Ribeiro, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2006.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.95%, 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 29.47%, 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. The standard deviation of TWMIX over the past three years is 16.46% compared to the category average of 11.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.72% compared to the category average of 13.13%. 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 0.8, which means it is hypothetically 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. TWMIX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.94, demonstrating 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, TWMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.26% compared to the category average of 0.95%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, TWMIX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.

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, worse downside risk, and higher fees, American Century Emerging Market Investor ( TWMIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on TWMIX 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.