If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, it would not be wise to start your search with T. Rowe Price Global Growth Stock Retail (RPGEX Quick QuoteRPGEX - Free Report) . RPGEX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of RPGEX. Since T. Rowe Price Global Growth Stock Retail made its debut in October of 2008, RPGEX has garnered more than $355.63 million in assets. The fund's current manager, R. Scott Berg, has been in charge of the fund since October of 2008.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. RPGEX has a 5-year annualized total return of 7.7% 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 1.14%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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. RPGEX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.12% compared to the category average of 15.66%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.91% compared to the category average of 16.47%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.99, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. RPGEX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.74, demonstrating 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, RPGEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.94% compared to the category average of 1.11%. From a cost perspective, RPGEX 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 needs to be at least $100.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, T. Rowe Price Global Growth Stock Retail ( RPGEX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report 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 RPGEX 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.