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Is Fidelity Asset Manager 50% (FASMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding an Allocation Balanced fund? Fidelity Asset Manager 50% (FASMX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. FASMX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FASMX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FASMX. Since Fidelity Asset Manager 50% made its debut in December of 1988, FASMX has garnered more than $8.65 billion in assets. Geoffrey D. Stein is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June 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 4.9%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.56%, 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. The standard deviation of FASMX over the past three years is 5.65% compared to the category average of 8.12%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 5.86% compared to the category average of 8.29%. This makes the fund less 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, FASMX lost 34.82% and outperformed its peer group by 1.42%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.54, 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. FASMX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.29, demonstrating that 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, FASMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 0.90%. From a cost perspective, FASMX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Asset Manager 50% ( FASMX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Asset Manager 50% ( FASMX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Allocation Balanced, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.
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Is Fidelity Asset Manager 50% (FASMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding an Allocation Balanced fund? Fidelity Asset Manager 50% (FASMX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. FASMX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FASMX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FASMX. Since Fidelity Asset Manager 50% made its debut in December of 1988, FASMX has garnered more than $8.65 billion in assets. Geoffrey D. Stein is the fund's current manager and has held that role since June 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 4.9%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.56%, 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. The standard deviation of FASMX over the past three years is 5.65% compared to the category average of 8.12%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 5.86% compared to the category average of 8.29%. This makes the fund less 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, FASMX lost 34.82% and outperformed its peer group by 1.42%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.54, 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. FASMX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -1.29, demonstrating that 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, FASMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% compared to the category average of 0.90%. From a cost perspective, FASMX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Asset Manager 50% ( FASMX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Asset Manager 50% ( FASMX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Allocation Balanced, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.