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Is Fidelity Select Transportation (FSRFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Sector - Other fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Fidelity Select Transportation (FSRFX - Free Report) . FSRFX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), 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 FSRFX. The Fidelity Select Transportation made its debut in September of 1986 and FSRFX has managed to accumulate roughly $335.88 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Matthew Moulis is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2012.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 13.39%, and it sits in the top 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 8.79%, 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, FSRFX's standard deviation comes in at 24.21%, compared to the category average of 25.96%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 20.78% compared to the category average of 21.28%. This makes the fund less 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. FSRFX has a 5-year beta of 1.2, which means it is likely to be more volatile than 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -5.01, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, FSRFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.82% compared to the category average of 1.26%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSRFX 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 Transportation ( FSRFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Transportation ( FSRFX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Sector - Other 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. 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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