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Is Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income (FSDIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income (FSDIX - Free Report) . FSDIX bears 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

FSDIX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income made its debut in December of 2004, FSDIX has garnered more than $3.49 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FSDIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 9.84% and is 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 12.29%, 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, FSDIX's standard deviation comes in at 13.71%, compared to the category average of 14.48%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 11.95% compared to the category average of 12.84%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.73, 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -1.39. This means that 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, FSDIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.68% compared to the category average of 0.93%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSDIX 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 Strategic Dividend & Income ( FSDIX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income ( FSDIX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FSDIX? 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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