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

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There are plenty of choices in the Non US - Equity category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is Fidelity Diversified International Fund (FDIVX - Free Report) . FDIVX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify FDIVX 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

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 $7.40 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, William Bower, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2001.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.95%, and is 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 1.33%, 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. Over the past three years, FDIVX's standard deviation comes in at 14.37%, compared to the category average of 11.77%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.53% compared to the category average of 11.83%. 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 outperformed its peer group by 1%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.88, so investors should note that it is hypothetically 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. FDIVX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -4.72, 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, FDIVX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 1.22%. 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 $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Diversified International Fund ( FDIVX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average 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. 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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