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Is Fidelity Diversified International Fund (FDIVX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Non US - Equity fund category, Fidelity Diversified International Fund (FDIVX - Free Report) could be a potential option. FDIVX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FDIVX 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

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FDIVX. Fidelity Diversified International Fund made its debut in December of 1991, and since then, FDIVX has accumulated about $10.23 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by William Bower who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2001.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.42%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.07%, which places it in the bottom 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. Over the past three years, FDIVX's standard deviation comes in at 10.35%, compared to the category average of 10.8%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 10.58% compared to the category average of 10.49%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. In the most recent bear market, FDIVX lost 57.57% and underperformed its peer group by 0.83%. These results could imply that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.9, 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 -6.18, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FDIVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.82% compared to the category average of 1.28%. From a cost perspective, FDIVX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Diversified International Fund ( FDIVX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Diversified International Fund ( FDIVX ) looks like a good 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 FDIVX to its peers 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.


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