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Is Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Looking for a Large Cap Blend fund? You may want to consider Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX - Free Report) as a possible option. FGRIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FGRIX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.
History of Fund/Manager
FGRIX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio made its debut in December of 1985 and FGRIX has managed to accumulate roughly $6.79 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Matthew Fruhan is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2011.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 14.22%, and is in the bottom 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 13.9%, which places it in the bottom 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, FGRIX's standard deviation comes in at 19.85%, compared to the category average of 16.95%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.25% compared to the category average of 14.07%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.04, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.18. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 78.63% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $217.34 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Finance
Industrial Cyclical
Non-Durable
Turnover is about 22%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.
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, FGRIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.59% compared to the category average of 0.96%. FGRIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio ( FGRIX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio ( FGRIX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Blend, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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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Is Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Looking for a Large Cap Blend fund? You may want to consider Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX - Free Report) as a possible option. FGRIX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FGRIX is part of the Large Cap Blend section, an area that boasts an array of many possible options. Large Cap Blend mutual funds most often invest in firms with a market capitalization of $10 billion or more. By investing in bigger companies, these funds offer more stability, and are often well-suited for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Blended funds mix large, established companies into their holdings, which gives investors exposure to both value and growth at the same time.
History of Fund/Manager
FGRIX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio made its debut in December of 1985 and FGRIX has managed to accumulate roughly $6.79 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Matthew Fruhan is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2011.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 14.22%, and is in the bottom 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 13.9%, which places it in the bottom 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, FGRIX's standard deviation comes in at 19.85%, compared to the category average of 16.95%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.25% compared to the category average of 14.07%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.04, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -2.18. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is largely on equities that are traded in the United States.
Right now, 78.63% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $217.34 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Finance
- Industrial Cyclical
- Non-Durable
Turnover is about 22%, so those in charge of the fund make fewer trades than its comparable peers.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, FGRIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.59% compared to the category average of 0.96%. FGRIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio ( FGRIX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio ( FGRIX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Blend, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.