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Is CG Cap Markets Emerging Markets (TEMUX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Non US - Equity fund could think about starting with CG Cap Markets Emerging Markets (TEMUX - Free Report) . TEMUX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

TEMUX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too.

History of Fund/Manager

MorgStanley is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of TEMUX. CG Cap Markets Emerging Markets debuted in April of 1994. Since then, TEMUX has accumulated assets of about $488 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.07%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.5%, 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. Compared to the category average of 13.03%, the standard deviation of TEMUX over the past three years is 14.6%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 14.66% compared to the category average of 12.66%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. TEMUX lost 63.73% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 5.32%. This means that the fund could possibly be a worse choice than its peers during a down market environment.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.95, so it is likely going to be 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. TEMUX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -6.85, 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, TEMUX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.86% compared to the category average of 1.28%. So, TEMUX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $100, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, CG Cap Markets Emerging Markets has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Non US - Equity funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare TEMUX to its peers as well for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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