International Small Cap Confusion 3: Kiplinger's joins the hype machine

An article by Steven Goldberg in the new issue of Kiplinger's sheds some light on the reasons why Fidelity has rolled out International Small Cap Opportunities. As I hypothesized last month, part of the reason is related to the success of the older and closed International Small Cap (89% return in 2003, 29% in 2004) and Fidelity's desire to tap some of the interest in this fund.

Goldberg admits that the fund manager, Andrew Sassine, has no experience running a fund. He was a Fidelity analyst for six years, most of the time covering foreign stocks, but the article says nothing about his track record. Nevertheless, how does Kiplinger's verdict on his fund?

"If the past is any prologue, Fidelity's newsest overseas fund is a cinch to chalk up big gains at the outset."

It is analysis like this that makes me stay far away from the mutual fund recommendations in Kiplinger's. My advice to anyone who is interested in investing in a mutual fund recommended in an advertisement, magazine, or newspaper, is to forget the hype. Instead, carefully read the prospectus first and evaluate the track record of the management team.