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Is Fidelity Small Cap Growth (FCPGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Small Cap Growth fund category, Fidelity Small Cap Growth (FCPGX - Free Report) could be a potential option. FCPGX carries 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 Small Cap Growth funds is an area filled with options, such as FCPGX. These funds tend to create their portfolios around stocks that sport large growth opportunities and market capitalization of less than $2 billion. The companies in these portfolios are usually on the smaller side, and are in up-and-coming industries and markets.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FCPGX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Small Cap Growth debuted in November of 2004. Since then, FCPGX has accumulated assets of about $4.04 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Patrick Venanzi who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2011.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FCPGX has a 5-year annualized total return of 23.38% and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 19.47%, 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, FCPGX's standard deviation comes in at 23.37%, compared to the category average of 16.7%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.77% compared to the category average of 13.85%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.12, the fund is likely to be more 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. FCPGX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 5.15, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FCPGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.07% compared to the category average of 1.21%. From a cost perspective, FCPGX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Small Cap Growth ( FCPGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Small Cap Growth ( FCPGX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Small Cap Growth 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. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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