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Is Fidelity Select Leisure (FDLSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Sector - Other fund? Starting with Fidelity Select Leisure (FDLSX - Free Report) is one possibility. FDLSX 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 FDLSX. Since Fidelity Select Leisure made its debut in May of 1984, FDLSX has garnered more than $481.94 million in assets. Becky Painter is the fund's current manager and has held that role since August of 2017.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FDLSX has a 5-year annualized total return of 12.26% 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 7.93%, 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. Over the past three years, FDLSX's standard deviation comes in at 11.4%, compared to the category average of 13.4%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 11.07% compared to the category average of 13.11%. 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. FDLSX lost 44.11% in the most recent bear market and underperformed comparable funds by 4.3%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, so it is likely going to be less 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.08. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, FDLSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 1.14%. So, FDLSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

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 Leisure has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FDLSX? 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. 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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