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Is Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund (FSEAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you've been stuck searching for Pacific Rim - Equity funds, consider Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund (FSEAX - Free Report) as a possibility. FSEAX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FSEAX is one of many Pacific Rim - Equity funds to choose from. Pacific Rim - Equity mutual funds typically invest in companies throughout the dominant export-focused markets of Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Korea. Since Japan mutual funds are already popular in their own right, these Pacific funds will usually invest less than 10% of their assets in Japanese companies.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSEAX. Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund debuted in April of 1993. Since then, FSEAX has accumulated assets of about $1.14 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Xiaoting Zhao who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2019.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.88%, 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 13.96%, 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. Compared to the category average of 20.79%, the standard deviation of FSEAX over the past three years is 21.55%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 21.65% compared to the category average of 20.14%. 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 0.67, so it is likely going to be 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -3.2, 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, FSEAX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.01% compared to the category average of 1.25%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSEAX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund ( FSEAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Emerging Asia Fund ( FSEAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Pacific Rim - Equity funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FSEAX to its peers 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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