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Is American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX - Free Report) . TWMIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
TWMIX finds itself in the American Century family, based out of Kansas City, MO. American Century Emerging Market Investor debuted in September of 1997. Since then, TWMIX has accumulated assets of about $432.83 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Patricia Ribeiro who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2006.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.23%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.81%, which places it in the middle 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. The standard deviation of TWMIX over the past three years is 19.64% compared to the category average of 15.23%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.54% compared to the category average of 13.52%. 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 0.76, 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. With a negative alpha of -6.18, 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, TWMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.25% compared to the category average of 1.15%. From a cost perspective, TWMIX is actually more expensive than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Emerging Market Investor ( TWMIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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Is American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that may not be worth investigating is American Century Emerging Market Investor (TWMIX - Free Report) . TWMIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
TWMIX finds itself in the American Century family, based out of Kansas City, MO. American Century Emerging Market Investor debuted in September of 1997. Since then, TWMIX has accumulated assets of about $432.83 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Patricia Ribeiro who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2006.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 3.23%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 0.81%, which places it in the middle 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. The standard deviation of TWMIX over the past three years is 19.64% compared to the category average of 15.23%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.54% compared to the category average of 13.52%. 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 0.76, 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. With a negative alpha of -6.18, 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, TWMIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.25% compared to the category average of 1.15%. From a cost perspective, TWMIX is actually more expensive than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Emerging Market Investor ( TWMIX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a poor potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.