Looking for a Government Mortgage - Short fund? You may want to consider Fidelity Conservative Income Bond as a possible option. FCONX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FCONX is classified in the Government Mortgage - Short segment by Zacks, which is full of possibilities. Government Mortgage - Short funds focus on the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market, which packages mortgages together and then sells off the pooled securities as a MBS. Focusing on securities that have less than three years until maturity, this category gives funds a lower yield but lower interest rate sensitivity.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FCONX. Fidelity Conservative Income Bond made its debut in March of 2011, and since then, FCONX has accumulated about $2.77 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.62%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 2.03%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Over the past three years, FCONX's standard deviation comes in at 1.01%, compared to the category average of 7.87%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 0.79% compared to the category average of 6.83%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.08, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FCONX has a positive alpha of 0.32, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FCONX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.35% compared to the category average of 0.81%. From a cost perspective, FCONX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Conservative Income Bond ( FCONX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Government Mortgage - Short, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is FCONX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
Looking for a Government Mortgage - Short fund? You may want to consider Fidelity Conservative Income Bond as a possible option. FCONX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FCONX is classified in the Government Mortgage - Short segment by Zacks, which is full of possibilities. Government Mortgage - Short funds focus on the mortgage-backed securities (MBS) market, which packages mortgages together and then sells off the pooled securities as a MBS. Focusing on securities that have less than three years until maturity, this category gives funds a lower yield but lower interest rate sensitivity.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FCONX. Fidelity Conservative Income Bond made its debut in March of 2011, and since then, FCONX has accumulated about $2.77 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 1.62%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 2.03%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.
When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. Over the past three years, FCONX's standard deviation comes in at 1.01%, compared to the category average of 7.87%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 0.79% compared to the category average of 6.83%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a beta of 0.08, this fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FCONX has a positive alpha of 0.32, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FCONX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.35% compared to the category average of 0.81%. From a cost perspective, FCONX is actually cheaper than its peers.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Conservative Income Bond ( FCONX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Government Mortgage - Short, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.