Is Fidelity Select Portfolio Medical Technology and Devices (FSMEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

FSMEX

Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with Fidelity Select Portfolio Medical Technology and Devices (FSMEX - Free Report) . FSMEX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSMEX. Fidelity Select Portfolio Medical Technology and Devices debuted in April of 1998. Since then, FSMEX has accumulated assets of about $5.15 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Edward Yoon, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2007.

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 4.91%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -5.11%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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. FSMEX's standard deviation over the past three years is 20.97% compared to the category average of 17.45%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.56% compared to the category average of 18.45%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FSMEX has a 5-year beta of 0.88, which means it is likely to be less 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. With a negative alpha of -4.04, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FSMEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.70% compared to the category average of 1.11%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSMEX 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.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Portfolio Medical Technology and Devices ( FSMEX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FSMEX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.

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