Is Fidelity International Growth (FIGFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Have you been searching for a Non US – Equity fund? You might want to begin with Fidelity International Growth (FIGFX). FIGFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

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.

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FIGFX. The Fidelity International Growth made its debut in November of 2007 and FIGFX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.56 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund’s current manager, Jes Weiss, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2007.

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.21%, and is 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 4.63%, 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. Over the past three years, FIGFX’s standard deviation comes in at 19.65%, compared to the category average of 15.02%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 18.06% compared to the category average of 15.85%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

With a 5-year beta of 0.97, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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 -6.5, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.