Is Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity A (GEMAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Non US - Equity fund? Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity A (GEMAX) is a potential starting point. GEMAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify GEMAX in the Non US - Equity category, which is an area rife with potential choices. Investing in companies outside the United States is how Non US - Equity funds set themselves apart, since global funds tend to keep a good portion of their portfolio stateside. Many of these funds like to allocate across emerging and developed markets, and will often focus on all cap levels.
History of Fund/Manager
Goldman Sachs is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of GEMAX. Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity A made its debut in December of 1997, and since then, GEMAX has accumulated about $247.76 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Basak Yavuz, has been in charge of the fund since February of 2015.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 17.24%, and is 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 8.11%, which places it in the top 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. Over the past three years, GEMAX's standard deviation comes in at 20.29%, compared to the category average of 15.75%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.37% compared to the category average of 13.25%. This makes the fund more 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. GEMAX has a 5-year beta of 0.86, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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. GEMAX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 3.48, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, GEMAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.49% compared to the category average of 1.19%. So, GEMAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity A ( GEMAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and higher fees, Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity A ( GEMAX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about GEMAX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
