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Is Fidelity OTC Portfolio (FOCPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with Fidelity OTC Portfolio (FOCPX - Free Report) . FOCPX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FOCPX. Fidelity OTC Portfolio made its debut in December of 1984, and since then, FOCPX has accumulated about $23.36 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Christopher Lin, has been in charge of the fund since September of 2017.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FOCPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 27.94% and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 36.7%, 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, FOCPX's standard deviation comes in at 19.26%, compared to the category average of 16.53%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.83% compared to the category average of 14.73%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.06, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. FOCPX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 7.47, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 77.67% stock in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $705.78 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Retail Trade
Turnover is about 28%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.

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, FOCPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 0.99%. From a cost perspective, FOCPX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity OTC Portfolio ( FOCPX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity OTC Portfolio ( FOCPX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on the Mutual Fund Equity Report area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into FOCPX too 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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