Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Fidelity Select Materials (FSDPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Select Materials (FSDPX - Free Report) . FSDPX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

FSDPX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Select Materials made its debut in September of 1986 and FSDPX has managed to accumulate roughly $577.09 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Jody Simes who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2019.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.41%, and it sits 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 26.61%, which places it in the middle 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. FSDPX's standard deviation over the past three years is 22.86% compared to the category average of 16.97%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 23.37% compared to the category average of 17.07%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.11, 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. FSDPX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -4.49, 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, FSDPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 1.52%. From a cost perspective, FSDPX 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 Select Materials ( FSDPX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Materials ( FSDPX ) looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FSDPXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Fidelity Select Materials (FSDPX) - free report >>

Published in