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Is Fidelity Small Cap Discovery Fund (FSCRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Small Cap Growth fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Small Cap Discovery Fund (FSCRX - Free Report) . FSCRX carries 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 Small Cap Growth funds is an area filled with options, such as FSCRX. These funds tend to create their portfolios around stocks that sport large growth opportunities and market capitalization of less than $2 billion. The companies in these portfolios are usually on the smaller side, and are in up-and-coming industries and markets.

History of Fund/Manager

FSCRX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Small Cap Discovery Fund debuted in January of 2001. Since then, FSCRX has accumulated assets of about $4.56 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Charles Myers who has been in charge of the fund since March of 2006.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 8.93%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.62%, 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. Compared to the category average of 13.52%, the standard deviation of FSCRX over the past three years is 12.2%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 12.57% compared to the category average of 13.65%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, FSCRX lost 45.07% and outperformed its peer group by 8.05%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FSCRX has a 5-year beta of 0.97, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. FSCRX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.21, which means 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, FSCRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.72% compared to the category average of 1.32%. FSCRX 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 Small Cap Discovery Fund has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FSCRX? 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 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.


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