Putnam Asia Pacific Equity Fund Class A (PAPAX)
Expense Ratio: 1.72%
Expected Lifetime Fees: $47,556.18
The Putnam Asia Pacific Equity Fund Class A fund (PAPAX) is a Diversified Pacific/Asia fund started on 06/12/2009 and has $7.10 million in assets under management. The current manager has been running Putnam Asia Pacific Equity Fund Class A since 04/18/2011. The fund is rated by Morningstar. In addition to trading fees and broker commissions, this fund has 12b-1 fees of 0.25%
Vanguard Pacific Stock ETF (VPL)
Expense Ratio: 0.14%
Expected Lifetime Fees: $4,561.33
The Vanguard Pacific Stock ETF (VPL) is an Exchange Traded Fund. It is a "basket" of securities that index the Diversified Pacific/Asia investment strategy and is an alternative to a Diversified Pacific/Asia mutual fund. Fees are very low compared to a comparable mutual fund like Putnam Asia Pacific Equity Fund Class A because computers automatically manage the stocks.
| Mutual Fund Name | Ticker Symbol | Turnover | Assets (M) | Annual Fees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlackRock Pacific Instl | MAPCX | 149.0% | 277 | 0.93% |
| BlackRock Pacific Inv A | MDPCX | 149.0% | 277 | 1.18% |
| BlackRock Pacific Inv A | MDPSZ | 149.0% | 277 | 1.18% |
| Columbia Pacific/Asia Z | USPAX | 94.0% | 271 | 1.52% |
| Fidelity Pacific Basin | FPBFX | 59.0% | 567 | 1.14% |
| Matthews Asia Dividend Fund Institutional Class | MIPIX | 16.5% | 2,600 | 1.00% |
| Matthews Asia Dividend Investor | MAPIX | 16.5% | 2,600 | 1.10% |
| Matthews Asia Growth Fund Institutional Class | MIAPX | 28.1% | 354 | 1.03% |
| Matthews Asia Growth Investor | MPACX | 28.1% | 354 | 1.18% |
| Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Instl | VPKIX | 4.0% | 3,600 | 0.10% |
| Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Inv | VPACX | 4.0% | 3,600 | 0.26% |
| Vanguard Pacific Stock Index Signal | VPASX | 4.0% | 3,600 | 0.14% |
| Wells Fargo Advantage Asia Pacific Inv | SASPX | 196.0% | 170 | 1.67% |
Turnover
Turnover represents how much of a mutual fund's holdings are changed over the course of a year through buying and selling. Active mutual funds have an average turnover rate of about 85%,
meaning that funds are turning over nearly all of their holdings every year. A high turnover means you could make lower returns because: 1) buying and selling stocks costs money through
commissions and spreads and 2) the fund will distribute yearly capital gains which increases your taxes. Look for funds with turnover rates below 50%. For comparison, ETF turnover rates
average around 10% or lower.
Assets
Generally, smaller funds do better than larger ones. The more assets in a mutual fund, the lower the chance that it will beat its index. Managers outperform an index by choosing stocks
that are undervalued. In order to find these undervalued stocks, the manager has to know more than his competitors to develop an "edge." There are only a finite number of stocks a mutual
fund manager can reasonably analyze and actively track to gain such a competitive edge. When the fund has more assets, the manager must analyze large companies because he needs to take
larger positions. Large companies are more efficiently priced in the market and it becomes increasingly difficult to get an edge.
