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Is Baron Emerging Markets Retail (BEXFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Non US - Equity fund? Starting with Baron Emerging Markets Retail (BEXFX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. BEXFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes BEXFX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets.
History of Fund/Manager
BEXFX is a part of the Baron family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. Baron Emerging Markets Retail debuted in December of 2010. Since then, BEXFX has accumulated assets of about $253.20 million, according to the most recently available information. Michael Kass is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.69%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -8.6%, 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 BEXFX over the past three years is 17.31% compared to the category average of 15.43%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 19.82% compared to the category average of 16.63%. 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 0.77, so it is likely going to be less volatile than 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. BEXFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -8.55, which means 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, BEXFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.37% compared to the category average of 1.01%. From a cost perspective, BEXFX is actually more expensive than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Baron Emerging Markets Retail ( BEXFX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Baron Emerging Markets Retail ( BEXFX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about BEXFX? 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Baron Emerging Markets Retail (BEXFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Non US - Equity fund? Starting with Baron Emerging Markets Retail (BEXFX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. BEXFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes BEXFX as Non US - Equity, a segment stacked high with options. Non US - Equity mutual funds like to invest in companies outside of the United States, an important characteristic since global mutual funds are known to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. These kinds of funds can often extend across all cap levels, and will typically allocate their investments between emerging and developed markets.
History of Fund/Manager
BEXFX is a part of the Baron family of funds, a company based out of New York, NY. Baron Emerging Markets Retail debuted in December of 2010. Since then, BEXFX has accumulated assets of about $253.20 million, according to the most recently available information. Michael Kass is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.69%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -8.6%, 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 BEXFX over the past three years is 17.31% compared to the category average of 15.43%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 19.82% compared to the category average of 16.63%. 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 0.77, so it is likely going to be less volatile than 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. BEXFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -8.55, which means 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, BEXFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.37% compared to the category average of 1.01%. From a cost perspective, BEXFX is actually more expensive than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,000, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Baron Emerging Markets Retail ( BEXFX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Baron Emerging Markets Retail ( BEXFX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about BEXFX? 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.