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You may try the new fund from Wasatch: WAESX (it may invest in stocks of all sizes, but I guess that it will invest in small and midcap stocks). Two previous funds from Wasatch, though expensive, were pretty impressive: WAEMX and WAFMX. WAEMX is closed to new investors, WAFMX invests in frontier markets, it is only a year old, and so far it was excellent, 34% up since inception. But I do not know whether you want to invest in frontier markets. For asian small caps you may consider MSMLX.
Thornburg has done a great job with THDIX or THDAX. Average mkt cap is under $5 billion. Maybe not a really small cap, but compared to ODVYX' average mkt cap of 17 billion, it's teeny in average mkt cap, and its 1 and 3-yr numbers are very impressive. But Wasatch really has a lock on EM small caps. The company has always done well in small cap stocks, period. And I would not hesitate to move some dollars to either of their newer funds WAFMX or WAESX. Hard to believe they would perform uncharacteristically poor. Roger Edgley and Laura Geritz run WAEMX, and she runs WAFMX, too. He co-manages WAESX. That's a pretty good bet. Yeah, expenses are high, but going where they go means higher costs, and the WAEMX has earned every penny of its expenses. We have a lot of confidence in this team at Wasatch. Somehow, Fidelity has managed to screw up almost every international fund they have run. There have been a few exceptions, but darned few. I am just skeptical of this unknown manager and how long he will last. Driehaus might be ok, but based on the EM Growth fund that one of the EM small cap managers runs, it might show higher volatility and more downside than Wasatch. With Wasatch, you know what you are getting from the top down.
Columbia Acorn Emerging Mkts (CEFZX) and Forward Select EM Dividend (FSLRX) are on my watch list for the mid cap space. I hesitate to mention these two as BobC is always spot on with his analysis but it is difficult to find open, no load NTF funds in the diversified em small cap space. I do own two of the Wasatch funds listed but thinking about moving up the capitalization ladder.
I believe that WAESX is slightly up the capitalization ladder. They say that one of their goals is to follow companies that "graduate" from their small cap stock status.
I would take a look at the William Blair Emerging Markets SCG Fund (BESIX/WESNX), which has had attractive performance during its young life (inception 10/24/11) and has reasonable expenses. In our portfolio, we continue to use ABNIX (30+% EM) to cover our EM SMID cap needs.
I am not so sure about WESNX. The same managers manage also William Blair Emerging Mkts Growth N WBENX, which has a longer history, and is quite risky.
Others have mentioned MSMLX. Simply on the basis of the stellar reputation which Matthews carries around, I could suggest that one, though I do not own it. I couldn't bring myself to pay a 1.97% ER, either. Also have a look at PRIDX from TRP. It wears three stars and a bronze medal. I took a look back at the 10-year stats: $10,000.00 has more than quadrupled, and that puts the fund in the 14th percentile. The ER is 1.23%. Category: "Foreign small-mid growth." "Break a leg," as they say.
I agree with your concern, but all of the funds fully dedicated to the EM SC/MC space are very volatile, and truthfully, they are too volatile for me. Even the best fund in the space, WAEMX (we own a foothold), lost a whopping 57% in 2008. How many folks on this forum can stay in the saddle with such a downdraft ? For my risk tolerance, I prefer the much less volatile ABNIX (under the current management, since 10/23/2009) -- which may invest in this space -- and has had attractive 1- and 3- year standard deviations/sharpe ratios of 12.40/2.35 and 16.59/1.08, as compared with WAEMX's 15.74/1.64 and 19.72/0.84.
Max with regard to avoiding the fund because of a high ER I have come to the conclusion from the above posts especially those that concern Wasatch funds that it is more important to look at the record of the funds success because the figures of these returns are NET of the expenses. Therefore it appears that it trumps the E.R.
I want to thank everyone who made contributions to my post. It has been very helpful to me.
ABNIX continues to be available in Firstrade retirement accounts for a $500 minimum. I bought the fund there and then moved it to Wellstrade where I made additional purchases.
Reply to @prinx: I do not necessarily disagree with your post. But remember, when you buy a fund, you are not getting its past performance, only its future performance. As every investment disclaimer will tell you, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. However, fees and expenses *are* guaranteed to subtract from future performance.
Again, this does not mean that performance cannot trump fees (I also hold WAEMX). But be clear on the distinction between past and future performance, and put the fees in the appropriate context.
Quite right, claimui. If I'm gonna hold something for years and years, I wanna know that what's being taken from me before I ever even see any profit (the E.R.) is as low as I can find, and still choose a fund with good looking profit numbers. It's a balancing act.
Just added to my position in GPGOX and I like the looks of Grandeur Peak's international fund (GPIOX). These guys had a fine record at Wasatch and are fast out of the gate with their own funds.
Comments
Kevin
Hi Andrei,
I agree with your concern, but all of the funds fully dedicated to the EM SC/MC space are very volatile, and truthfully, they are too volatile for me. Even the best fund in the space, WAEMX (we own a foothold), lost a whopping 57% in 2008. How many folks on this forum can stay in the saddle with such a downdraft ? For my risk tolerance, I prefer the much less volatile ABNIX (under the current management, since 10/23/2009) -- which may invest in this space -- and has had attractive 1- and 3- year standard deviations/sharpe ratios of 12.40/2.35 and 16.59/1.08, as compared with WAEMX's 15.74/1.64 and 19.72/0.84.
Kevin
Dear Kevin,
Thanks for the interesting suggestion, but do you know any way to buy ABNIX without paying $1M?
Andrei
L.
I want to thank everyone who made contributions to my post. It has been very helpful to me.
prinx
Thanks a lot, I would try it, but I do not have an account there, and I prefer not to open too many accounts in many brokerages...
Thanks anyway:)
Andrei
ABNIX continues to be available in Firstrade retirement accounts for a $500 minimum. I bought the fund there and then moved it to Wellstrade where I made additional purchases.
Kevin
Again, this does not mean that performance cannot trump fees (I also hold WAEMX). But be clear on the distinction between past and future performance, and put the fees in the appropriate context.