While other major Fidelity index funds seem to perform reasonably well, FSGDX doesn't. I'm aware of many factors that could explain the difference compared to similar funds, but I'm looking for something more concrete.
- FSGDX underperforms CWI which tracks the same exact index at a much higher expense ratio (0.30% vs. 0.12%).
- FSGDX also underperforms VFWAX (which should be relatively similar since both funds lack small cap, and yes it's a different index as I note below).
- Basically, the 3 and 5 year performance numbers are terrible and the difference in performance is much larger in magnitude than the expense ratio. VFWAX, VTIAX, CWI, and IXUS all outperform FSGDX over the long run.
Also, when comparing the US total stock market offerings of Vanguard and Fidelity, the difference is much smaller, just 0.02% per year (although the Fidelity fund has significant capital gains distributions which is not ideal for a taxable account).
Here's a listing of the 1, 3, and 5 year total return of the major "total international" index funds. I use quotes because only VTIAX and IXUS include small-caps.
| Index Fund | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | Index Tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VTIAX | 20.80 | 1.20 | 4.17 | FTSE Global All Cap ex-US |
| VFWAX | 20.79 | 1.21 | 4.03 | FTSE All-World ex-US |
| FSGDX | 20.64 | 0.64 | 3.57 | MSCI ACWI ex-US |
| CWI | 19.67 | 1.43 | 3.89 | MSCI ACWI ex-US |
| IXUS | 20.50 | 1.26 | — | MSCI ACWI IMI ex-US |
Submitted February 10, 2017 at 10:25AM by dequeued http://ift.tt/2lwEIsP
