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Is Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Health category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX - Free Report) . FSMEX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes FSMEX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
FSMEX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems debuted in April of 1998. Since then, FSMEX has accumulated assets of about $6.21 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Edward L. Yoon who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2007.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 17.34%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 17.98%, 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 16.95%, the standard deviation of FSMEX over the past three years is 16.07%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.33% compared to the category average of 17.57%. 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, FSMEX lost 27.95% and outperformed its peer group by 5.18%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.91, the fund is likely to be less volatile than 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 8.45. 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, FSMEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.73% compared to the category average of 1.28%. So, FSMEX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 Select Medical Equipment & Systems ( FSMEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Health, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Health category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX - Free Report) . FSMEX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
Zacks categorizes FSMEX as Sector - Health, a segment packed with options. Sector - Health mutual funds offer investors a focus on the healthcare industry, one of the largest sectors in the American economy. These funds can include everything from pharmaceutical companies to medical device manufacturers and for-profit hospitals.
History of Fund/Manager
FSMEX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems debuted in April of 1998. Since then, FSMEX has accumulated assets of about $6.21 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Edward L. Yoon who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2007.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 17.34%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 17.98%, 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 16.95%, the standard deviation of FSMEX over the past three years is 16.07%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.33% compared to the category average of 17.57%. 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, FSMEX lost 27.95% and outperformed its peer group by 5.18%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 0.91, the fund is likely to be less volatile than 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 8.45. 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, FSMEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.73% compared to the category average of 1.28%. So, FSMEX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 Select Medical Equipment & Systems ( FSMEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Health, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.