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Is Fidelity Growth Strategies Fund (FDEGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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There are plenty of choices in the All Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Growth Strategies Fund (FDEGX - Free Report) . FDEGX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We note that FDEGX is an All Cap Growth option, and is loaded with different selections. All Cap Growth mutual funds look to invest in a wide variety of equities, no matter the size of the company and as long as the firm exhibits growth characteristics. In order to increase diversification, these portfolios have holdings across small, medium, and large-cap levels.

History of Fund/Manager

FDEGX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Growth Strategies Fund made its debut in December of 1990 and FDEGX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.44 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Jean Park who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2013.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 19.11%, and is in the middle 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 21.82%, 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 FDEGX over the past three years is 19.19% compared to the category average of 18.92%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.47% compared to the category average of 15.43%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.96, the fund is likely to be less 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 1.74. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, FDEGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.54% compared to the category average of 1%. So, FDEGX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Growth Strategies Fund ( FDEGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on All Cap Growth funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FDEGX to its peers as well 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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