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Is Fidelity International Real Estate (FIREX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Sector - Real Estate fund? Starting with Fidelity International Real Estate (FIREX - Free Report) is one possibility. FIREX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FIREX in the Sector - Real Estate category, an area full of possible choices. Sector - Real Estate mutual funds typically invest in various real estate investment trusts (REIT). A REIT is a popular income vehicle thanks to taxation rules that require REITs to payout at least 90% of their income each year in order to avoid double taxation. This technique makes securities here high dividend payers, and almost bond like in some cases; however, they still carry the risk of equities.
History of Fund/Manager
FIREX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity International Real Estate debuted in December of 2004. Since then, FIREX has accumulated assets of about $339.10 million, according to the most recently available information. Guillermo de las Casas is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2010.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FIREX has a 5-year annualized total return of 10.74% 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 10.68%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.55%, the standard deviation of FIREX over the past three years is 15.02%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.77% compared to the category average of 12.9%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.66, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. FIREX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.63, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FIREX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.98% compared to the category average of 1.22%. So, FIREX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 International Real Estate ( FIREX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity International Real Estate ( FIREX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FIREX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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 Fidelity International Real Estate (FIREX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Sector - Real Estate fund? Starting with Fidelity International Real Estate (FIREX - Free Report) is one possibility. FIREX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify FIREX in the Sector - Real Estate category, an area full of possible choices. Sector - Real Estate mutual funds typically invest in various real estate investment trusts (REIT). A REIT is a popular income vehicle thanks to taxation rules that require REITs to payout at least 90% of their income each year in order to avoid double taxation. This technique makes securities here high dividend payers, and almost bond like in some cases; however, they still carry the risk of equities.
History of Fund/Manager
FIREX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity International Real Estate debuted in December of 2004. Since then, FIREX has accumulated assets of about $339.10 million, according to the most recently available information. Guillermo de las Casas is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2010.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FIREX has a 5-year annualized total return of 10.74% 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 10.68%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.55%, the standard deviation of FIREX over the past three years is 15.02%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.77% compared to the category average of 12.9%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 0.66, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. FIREX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -0.63, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FIREX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.98% compared to the category average of 1.22%. So, FIREX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 International Real Estate ( FIREX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity International Real Estate ( FIREX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FIREX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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.