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Is Fidelity China Region Fund (FHKCX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a China - Equity fund? Starting with Fidelity China Region Fund (FHKCX - Free Report) is one possibility. FHKCX holds 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 FHKCX in the China - Equity category, an area that is rife with potential choices. China - Equity mutual funds almost exclusively target stocks throughout China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. China has changed drastically over the years, and even though we still associate the country's economy with export-focused manufacturing, it now focuses more than ever on its middle class. If you like the sounds of this investment method, then FHKCX could worth a closer look for your portfolio.

History of Fund/Manager

FHKCX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity China Region Fund made its debut in November of 1995, FHKCX has garnered more than $892.92 million in assets. The fund's current manager, Ivan Xie, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2018.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 4.96%, and it sits 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 -1.23%, which places it in the top 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. FHKCX's standard deviation over the past three years is 27.65% compared to the category average of 29.49%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 24.6% compared to the category average of 26.42%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FHKCX has a 5-year beta of 0.52, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.73, which shows that 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, FHKCX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.92% compared to the category average of 1.36%. So, FHKCX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, 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, Fidelity China Region Fund ( FHKCX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity China Region Fund ( FHKCX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the China - Equity, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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