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Is Fidelity Select Materials (FSDPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Sector - Energy funds, a place to start could be Fidelity Select Materials (FSDPX - Free Report) . FSDPX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify FSDPX in the Sector - Energy category, an area that is rife with possible choices. Throughout the massive global energy sector, Sector - Energy mutual funds hold a wide range of quickly changing and vitally important industries. While oil and gas comprise the bulk of the exposure, carbon-based fuels will be the biggest group of assets in these funds, though clean energy is starting to pick up steam.

History of Fund/Manager

FSDPX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Materials made its debut in September of 1986, and since then, FSDPX has accumulated about $578.62 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Jody Simes who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2019.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FSDPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 10.3% and is 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 7%, 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. FSDPX's standard deviation over the past three years is 23.25% compared to the category average of 17.65%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.1% compared to the category average of 14.64%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.13, 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. FSDPX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -6.42, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FSDPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.81% compared to the category average of 1.53%. FSDPX 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 Select Materials ( FSDPX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Materials ( FSDPX ) 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 - Energy, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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