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Is Fidelity International Growth (FIGFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Non US - Equity fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Fidelity International Growth (FIGFX - Free Report) at this time. FIGFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes FIGFX 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
FIGFX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity International Growth made its debut in November of 2007, and since then, FIGFX has accumulated about $997.22 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Jes Weiss, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2007.
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 9.04%, and it sits in the middle 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 9.2%, 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. FIGFX's standard deviation over the past three years is 10.61% compared to the category average of 9.26%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 10.46% compared to the category average of 11.95%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.87, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. FIGFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.97, which means 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, FIGFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 1.29%. FIGFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity International Growth has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity International Growth looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on in the Non US - Equity category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is Fidelity International Growth (FIGFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Non US - Equity fund seekers should not consider taking a look at Fidelity International Growth (FIGFX - Free Report) at this time. FIGFX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes FIGFX 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
FIGFX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity International Growth made its debut in November of 2007, and since then, FIGFX has accumulated about $997.22 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Jes Weiss, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2007.
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 9.04%, and it sits in the middle 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 9.2%, 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. FIGFX's standard deviation over the past three years is 10.61% compared to the category average of 9.26%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 10.46% compared to the category average of 11.95%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.87, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. FIGFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.97, which means 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, FIGFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.03% compared to the category average of 1.29%. FIGFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity International Growth has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity International Growth looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on in the Non US - Equity category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.