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Is Fidelity Select Health Care (FSPHX) 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 Health Care (FSPHX - Free Report) . FSPHX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as FSPHX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSPHX. Since Fidelity Select Health Care made its debut in July of 1981, FSPHX has garnered more than $7.26 billion in assets. Edward Yoon is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2008.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 10.51%, and is 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 13.23%, 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. Over the past three years, FSPHX's standard deviation comes in at 16.95%, compared to the category average of 17.23%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.64% compared to the category average of 17.67%. 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, FSPHX lost 40% and underperformed comparable funds by 7%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FSPHX has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. FSPHX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.2, 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, FSPHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.71% compared to the category average of 1.28%. From a cost perspective, FSPHX 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 Select Health Care ( FSPHX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Health Care ( FSPHX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FSPHXin the Sector - Health 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. 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 Select Health Care (FSPHX) 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 Health Care (FSPHX - Free Report) . FSPHX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as FSPHX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSPHX. Since Fidelity Select Health Care made its debut in July of 1981, FSPHX has garnered more than $7.26 billion in assets. Edward Yoon is the fund's current manager and has held that role since October of 2008.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 10.51%, and is 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 13.23%, 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. Over the past three years, FSPHX's standard deviation comes in at 16.95%, compared to the category average of 17.23%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.64% compared to the category average of 17.67%. 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, FSPHX lost 40% and underperformed comparable funds by 7%. This might suggest that the fund is a worse choice than its peers during a bear market.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FSPHX has a 5-year beta of 1.03, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. FSPHX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.2, 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, FSPHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.71% compared to the category average of 1.28%. From a cost perspective, FSPHX 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 Select Health Care ( FSPHX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Health Care ( FSPHX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FSPHXin the Sector - Health 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. 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.