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Is Fidelity Select Air Transportation (FSAIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Looking for a Sector - Other fund? You may want to consider Fidelity Select Air Transportation as a possible option. FSAIX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

FSAIX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Air Transportation made its debut in December of 1985, and since then, FSAIX has accumulated about $346.61 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Matthew Moulis is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2012.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.82%, and it sits 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 0.06%, 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. FSAIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 31.36% compared to the category average of 26.03%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 25.39% compared to the category average of 21.32%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FSAIX has a 5-year beta of 1.38, which means it is likely to be more 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. With a negative alpha of -11.62, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, FSAIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.83% compared to the category average of 1.27%. So, FSAIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Select Air Transportation ( FSAIX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Air Transportation ( FSAIX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FSAIX? 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.

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