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Is Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion (FSCPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion (FSCPX - Free Report) . FSCPX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSCPX. Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion made its debut in June of 1990, and since then, FSCPX has accumulated about $425.18 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Jordan Michaels is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2022.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.12%, and is in the bottom 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 8.53%, which places it in the bottom 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. The standard deviation of FSCPX over the past three years is 28.39% compared to the category average of 28.7%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 24.26% compared to the category average of 24.38%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.19, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. With a negative alpha of -3.19, 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, FSCPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.76% compared to the category average of 1.23%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSCPX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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 Consumer Discretion ( FSCPX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak 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 FSCPX too 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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