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Is Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion (FSCPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Sector - Other fund could think about starting with Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion (FSCPX - Free Report) . FSCPX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSCPX. Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion made its debut in June of 1990, and since then, FSCPX has accumulated about $583.61 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Katherine Shaw is the fund's current manager and has held that role since August of 2017.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FSCPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 18.71% and is in the top 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 18.54%, 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 24.35%, the standard deviation of FSCPX over the past three years is 22.38%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.43% compared to the category average of 19.95%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.16, the fund is likely to be more 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. FSCPX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.38, demonstrating that 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, FSCPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.77% compared to the category average of 1.26%. From a cost perspective, FSCPX 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 Select Consumer Discretion ( FSCPX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion ( FSCPX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Other, 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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