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Is Fidelity Blue Chip Growth (FBGRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? Fidelity Blue Chip Growth (FBGRX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. FBGRX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FBGRX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FBGRX. Since Fidelity Blue Chip Growth made its debut in December of 1987, FBGRX has garnered more than $18.16 billion in assets. Sonu Kalra is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2009.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 11.22%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 11.79%, 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 11.06%, the standard deviation of FBGRX over the past three years is 13.84%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.13% compared to the category average of 10.83%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In the most recent bear market, FBGRX lost 48.82% and outperformed its peer group by 0.02%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.04, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. FBGRX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 2.48, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FBGRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.72% compared to the category average of 1.05%. So, FBGRX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Blue Chip Growth ( FBGRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Don't stop here for your research on Large Cap Growth funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FBGRX to its peers as well 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 Blue Chip Growth (FBGRX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Large Cap Growth fund? Fidelity Blue Chip Growth (FBGRX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. FBGRX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FBGRX is part of the Large Cap Growth section, and this segment boasts an array of other possible options. Large Cap Growth mutual funds purchase stakes in numerous large U.S. companies that are expected to develop and grow at a faster rate than other large-cap stocks. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their market capitalization is over $10 billion.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FBGRX. Since Fidelity Blue Chip Growth made its debut in December of 1987, FBGRX has garnered more than $18.16 billion in assets. Sonu Kalra is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2009.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 11.22%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 11.79%, 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 11.06%, the standard deviation of FBGRX over the past three years is 13.84%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.13% compared to the category average of 10.83%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. In the most recent bear market, FBGRX lost 48.82% and outperformed its peer group by 0.02%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.04, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. FBGRX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 2.48, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FBGRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.72% compared to the category average of 1.05%. So, FBGRX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Blue Chip Growth ( FBGRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
Don't stop here for your research on Large Cap Growth funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FBGRX to its peers as well 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.