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Is Fidelity Advisor New Insights I (FINSX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Global - Equity fund might consider looking past Fidelity Advisor New Insights I (FINSX - Free Report) . FINSX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FINSX is classified in the Global - Equity segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Even though Global - Equity mutual funds invest in bigger markets like the U.S., Europe, and Japan, these kinds of funds aren't limited by geography. Rather, they offer an investment strategy that utilizes the global economy to provide stable returns.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FINSX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Advisor New Insights I made its debut in July of 2003 and FINSX has managed to accumulate roughly $13.56 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by William Danoff who has been in charge of the fund since July of 2003.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 10.26%, 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 13.59%, 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. Over the past three years, FINSX's standard deviation comes in at 12.93%, compared to the category average of 9.63%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.36% compared to the category average of 9.96%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, FINSX lost 46.65% and outperformed its peer group by 2.21%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.01, the fund is likely to be as volatile as the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. FINSX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 0.58, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is principally on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 89.57% stock in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $206.09 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology
  2. Finance
  3. Retail Trade
This fund's turnover is about 36%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than the average comparable fund.

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, FINSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.78% compared to the category average of 1.06%. From a cost perspective, FINSX is actually cheaper than its peers.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Advisor New Insights I ( FINSX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.

This could just be the start of your research on FINSXin the Global - Equity category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


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