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Is Fidelity Latin American Fund (FLATX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Non US - Equity fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Latin American Fund (FLATX - Free Report) . FLATX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FLATX 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 FLATX. Fidelity Latin American Fund debuted in April of 1993. Since then, FLATX has accumulated assets of about $219.91 million, according to the most recently available information. William Pruett is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2015.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -0.64%, and is in the bottom 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 1.19%, 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. The standard deviation of FLATX over the past three years is 25.67% compared to the category average of 15.79%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 31.77% compared to the category average of 17.73%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.21, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -11.27. This means that 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, FLATX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.06% compared to the category average of 1.03%. FLATX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
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 weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Fidelity Latin American Fund ( FLATX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Non US - Equity segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.
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Is Fidelity Latin American Fund (FLATX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Non US - Equity fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Latin American Fund (FLATX - Free Report) . FLATX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FLATX 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 FLATX. Fidelity Latin American Fund debuted in April of 1993. Since then, FLATX has accumulated assets of about $219.91 million, according to the most recently available information. William Pruett is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2015.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -0.64%, and is in the bottom 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 1.19%, 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. The standard deviation of FLATX over the past three years is 25.67% compared to the category average of 15.79%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 31.77% compared to the category average of 17.73%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.21, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -11.27. This means that 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, FLATX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.06% compared to the category average of 1.03%. FLATX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
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 weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Fidelity Latin American Fund ( FLATX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Non US - Equity segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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.