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Is Fidelity Select Industrials Portfolio (FCYIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Sector - Other funds, a place to start could be Fidelity Select Industrials Portfolio (FCYIX - Free Report) . FCYIX carries 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 FCYIX. Fidelity Select Industrials Portfolio made its debut in March of 1997 and since then, FCYIX has accumulated about $896.60 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Tobias W. Welo is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2007.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 15.02%, and is in the top third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.79%, 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. Compared to the category average of 13.06%, the standard deviation of FCYIX over the past three years is 12.83%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.37% compared to the category average of 12.25%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In FCYIX's case, the fund lost 55.52% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 6.74%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.

Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.14, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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 -2.42, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FCYIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 1.16%. From a cost perspective, FCYIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

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

Want even more information about FCYIX? 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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