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Is Fidelity China Region Fund (FHKCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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There are plenty of choices in the China - Equity category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity China Region Fund (FHKCX - Free Report) . FHKCX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that FHKCX is a China - Equity option, an area loaded with different options. China - Equity mutual funds and their investments revolve around stocks in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. China's middle class is booming, and its economy reflect this demographic's rise more than the vast export-focused manufacturing one we typically associate with the country. Even if this strategy sounds enticing, you may want to look past FHKCX.

History of Fund/Manager

FHKCX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity China Region Fund debuted in November of 1995. Since then, FHKCX has accumulated assets of about $1.06 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Stephen Lieu, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2018.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.22%, 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 15.1%, 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 19.44%, the standard deviation of FHKCX over the past three years is 17.14%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 20.43% compared to the category average of 20.98%. This makes the fund less 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. In the most recent bear market, FHKCX lost 57.13% and outperformed its peer group by 4.18%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding 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. FHKCX has a 5-year beta of 1.11, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 -3.99, which shows 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, FHKCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.93% compared to the category average of 1.50%. FHKCX is actually cheaper 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.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity China Region Fund ( FHKCX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

Want even more information about FHKCX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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