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Is T. Rowe Price Japan Fund (PRJPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Japan - Equity category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is T. Rowe Price Japan Fund (PRJPX - Free Report) . PRJPX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Japan - Equity funds is an area filled with choices, and one such option is PRJPX. Japan - Equity mutual funds invest primarily in companies based in Japan, one of the world's richest and most diversified economies. The country remains somewhat exposed to global economic trends with its export focus, while its lack of natural resources also can impact the nation.
History of Fund/Manager
T. Rowe Price is responsible for PRJPX, and the company is based out of Baltimore, MD. Since T. Rowe Price Japan Fund made its debut in December of 1991, PRJPX has garnered more than $630.99 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Archibald A. Ciganer, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PRJPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 15.41% and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 20.12%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
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 PRJPX over the past three years is 10.4% compared to the category average of 15.84%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 12.08% compared to the category average of 17.65%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In PRJPX's case, the fund lost 50.7% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 5.92%. This means that the fund could possibly be a better choice than its peers during a down market environment.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. PRJPX has a 5-year beta of 0.62, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 5.75, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, PRJPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 1.24%. PRJPX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price Japan Fund has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Japan - 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 PRJPX 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.
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Is T. Rowe Price Japan Fund (PRJPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Japan - Equity category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is T. Rowe Price Japan Fund (PRJPX - Free Report) . PRJPX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Japan - Equity funds is an area filled with choices, and one such option is PRJPX. Japan - Equity mutual funds invest primarily in companies based in Japan, one of the world's richest and most diversified economies. The country remains somewhat exposed to global economic trends with its export focus, while its lack of natural resources also can impact the nation.
History of Fund/Manager
T. Rowe Price is responsible for PRJPX, and the company is based out of Baltimore, MD. Since T. Rowe Price Japan Fund made its debut in December of 1991, PRJPX has garnered more than $630.99 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Archibald A. Ciganer, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2013.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. PRJPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 15.41% and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 20.12%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
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 PRJPX over the past three years is 10.4% compared to the category average of 15.84%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 12.08% compared to the category average of 17.65%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In PRJPX's case, the fund lost 50.7% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 5.92%. This means that the fund could possibly be a better choice than its peers during a down market environment.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. PRJPX has a 5-year beta of 0.62, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 5.75, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, PRJPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.97% compared to the category average of 1.24%. PRJPX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.
Bottom Line
Overall, T. Rowe Price Japan Fund has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Japan - 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 PRJPX 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.