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Is Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income (FSDIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Large Cap Blend funds, a place to start could be Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income (FSDIX - Free Report) . FSDIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that FSDIX is a Large Cap Blend option, an area loaded with different options. More often than not, Large Cap Blend mutual funds invest in companies with a market cap of over $10 billion. Buying stakes in bigger companies offer these funds more stability, and are well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Additionally, blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, giving investors exposure to value and growth opportunities.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FSDIX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income made its debut in December of 2004, FSDIX has garnered more than $2.92 billion in assets. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.65%, and is in the middle 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 10.57%, 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. FSDIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 8.33% compared to the category average of 9.59%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 8.06% compared to the category average of 9.51%. This makes the fund less 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, FSDIX lost 54.78% and underperformed comparable funds by 5.45%. This means that the fund could possibly be a worse choice than its peers during a down market environment.

Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.68, which means it is hypothetically 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. FSDIX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.19, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, FSDIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.71% compared to the category average of 0.96%. FSDIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Strategic Dividend & Income ( FSDIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

Your research on the Large Cap Blend 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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