Fund Openings, Closings, Manager Moves: T. Rowe Price International Discovery Fund to Close

(PRIDX Quote)T.Rowe Price International Discovery, one of the best funds in the foreign stock category, will close to new investors Monday, March 13. The company is expected to announce the closing next week, but has notified investors who have inquired about the fund in the past.

The $835 million fund focuses on small- and mid-cap stocks. A taste for smaller stocks often forces funds to close before they hit $1 billion since large funds can't establish significant positions in smaller companies without moving their prices and diluting returns. The fund also may have experienced a spike in inflows -- cash was a bit high at year-end, just under 10%.

The no-load fund sports a sterling track record, most recently thanks to lead manager Justin Thompson, who joined the fund's team in June 1998. Over the year-to-date, one-, three-, five- and 10-year time periods, the fund has outperformed at least 95% of its foreign stock fund peers, according to Morningstar. Over the past year, the fund was up 211%, and it averaged a 48.6% annual return over the past three years. ...