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Is FEMDX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, a place to start could be Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunity Adviser (FEMDX - Free Report) . FEMDX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Franklin Templeton is based in San Mateo, CA, and is the manager of FEMDX. Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunity Adviser debuted in October of 2006. Since then, FEMDX has accumulated assets of about $62.08 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Nicholas Hardingham who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2014.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 0.76%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of -1.65%, 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. FEMDX's standard deviation over the past three years is 12.69% compared to the category average of 12.42%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 10.28% compared to the category average of 10.23%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a beta of 0.43, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FEMDX has a positive alpha of 0.11, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, FEMDX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1% compared to the category average of 1.12%. From a cost perspective, FEMDX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $1 million and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunity Adviser ( FEMDX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Franklin Emerging Market Debt Opportunity Adviser ( FEMDX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FEMDX? 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. 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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