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Is Artisan International Value Investor (ARTKX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Equity Report fund category, Artisan International Value Investor (ARTKX - Free Report) could be a potential option. ARTKX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Artisan Funds is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of ARTKX. Artisan International Value Investor debuted in September of 2002. Since then, ARTKX has accumulated assets of about $2.06 billion, according to the most recently available information. N. David Samra is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 2002.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.84%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 11.6%, 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, ARTKX's standard deviation comes in at 22.25%, compared to the category average of 18.41%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.41% compared to the category average of 16.14%. 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 0.89, which means 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. With a negative alpha of -2.42, 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, ARTKX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.19% compared to the category average of 1.13%. So, ARTKX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note, that according to our data, the fund does not have any minimum investment requirements.

Bottom Line

Overall, Artisan International Value Investor ( ARTKX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about ARTKX? 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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