Is Fidelity International Capital Appreciation a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

If you have been looking for Non US - Equity funds, a place to start could be Fidelity International Capital Appreciation FIVFX. FIVFX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FIVFX is classified in the Non US - Equity area by Zacks, and this segment is full of potential. Non US - Equity funds focus their investments on companies outside of the United States, which is an important distinction since global mutual funds tend to keep a sizable portion of their portfolio based in the United States. Most of these funds will allocate across emerging and developed markets, and can often extend across cap levels too.

History of Fund/Manager

FIVFX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity International Capital Appreciation made its debut in November of 1994 and FIVFX has managed to accumulate roughly $5.60 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Sammy Simnegar, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2008.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.02%, and it sits in the top 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 4.53%, 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. The standard deviation of FIVFX over the past three years is 21.25% compared to the category average of 20.04%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.24% compared to the category average of 19.6%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.95, the fund 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. FIVFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.62, 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, FIVFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.79% compared to the category average of 0.94%. FIVFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

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 considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

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

This could just be the start of your research on FIVFXin the Non US - Equity category. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.

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