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Is FSRRX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, make sure to pass over Fidelity Strategic Real Return (FSRRX - Free Report) . FSRRX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

FSRRX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Strategic Real Return debuted in September of 2005. Since then, FSRRX has accumulated assets of about $270.70 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FSRRX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.68% and it sits in the top 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 8.35%, 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. FSRRX's standard deviation over the past three years is 9.23% compared to the category average of 13.03%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 7.81% compared to the category average of 11.41%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

This fund has a beta of 0.15, meaning that it is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FSRRX has a positive alpha of 4.09, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, FSRRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 0.77%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSRRX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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 Strategic Real Return ( FSRRX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Bond, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


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