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Is Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors I (FELIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Sector - Tech fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors I (FELIX - Free Report) . FELIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and FELIX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FELIX. The Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors I made its debut in December of 2000 and FELIX has managed to accumulate roughly $131.39 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Stephen Barwikowski, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2009.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 26.62%, 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 22.69%, 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. The standard deviation of FELIX over the past three years is 17.04% compared to the category average of 10.35%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.32% compared to the category average of 10.13%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. In the most recent bear market, FELIX lost 57.08% and underperformed comparable funds by 3.82%. These results could imply that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.1, so investors should note that 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 11.27, which shows that 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.
Right now, 78.73% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $85.97 billion. With turnover at about 99%, this fund is making more trades in a given year than the category average.
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, FELIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.87% compared to the category average of 1.37%. FELIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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 Advisor Semiconductors I has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors I looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Tech segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors I (FELIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Sector - Tech fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors I (FELIX - Free Report) . FELIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Tech funds is an area filled with options, and FELIX is one of them. Sector - Tech mutual funds allow investors to own a stake in a notoriously volatile sector with a much more diversified approach. Tech companies can be in any number of industries such as semiconductors, software, internet, networking just to name a few.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FELIX. The Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors I made its debut in December of 2000 and FELIX has managed to accumulate roughly $131.39 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Stephen Barwikowski, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2009.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 26.62%, 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 22.69%, 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. The standard deviation of FELIX over the past three years is 17.04% compared to the category average of 10.35%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 15.32% compared to the category average of 10.13%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of. In the most recent bear market, FELIX lost 57.08% and underperformed comparable funds by 3.82%. These results could imply that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Even still, the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.1, so investors should note that 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 11.27, which shows that 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.
Right now, 78.73% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $85.97 billion. With turnover at about 99%, this fund is making more trades in a given year than the category average.
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, FELIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.87% compared to the category average of 1.37%. FELIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
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 Advisor Semiconductors I has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Advisor Semiconductors I looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Sector - Tech segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.