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Is Fidelity Select Transportation (FSRFX) 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 Transportation (FSRFX - Free Report) . FSRFX 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

FSRFX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Transportation made its debut in September of 1986, and since then, FSRFX has accumulated about $392.64 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Matthew Moulis who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2012.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 14.56%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 9.18%, 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. The standard deviation of FSRFX over the past three years is 24.41% compared to the category average of 26.03%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 20.85% compared to the category average of 21.32%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.2, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -5.08, which shows 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, FSRFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 1.27%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSRFX 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 Transportation ( FSRFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund 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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