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Is Fidelity Select Chemicals (FSCHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Select Chemicals (FSCHX - Free Report) . FSCHX 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
FSCHX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Chemicals made its debut in July of 1985, and since then, FSCHX has accumulated about $784.84 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, David Wagner, has been in charge of the fund since August of 2019.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FSCHX has a 5-year annualized total return of 8.55% and is 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 13.24%, 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. Over the past three years, FSCHX's standard deviation comes in at 24.64%, compared to the category average of 27.04%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 21.66% compared to the category average of 24.01%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.21, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 -9.18, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FSCHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 1.21%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSCHX 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 Select Chemicals ( FSCHX ) 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 Mutual Fund Equity Report, 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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Is Fidelity Select Chemicals (FSCHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Select Chemicals (FSCHX - Free Report) . FSCHX 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
FSCHX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Chemicals made its debut in July of 1985, and since then, FSCHX has accumulated about $784.84 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, David Wagner, has been in charge of the fund since August of 2019.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FSCHX has a 5-year annualized total return of 8.55% and is 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 13.24%, 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. Over the past three years, FSCHX's standard deviation comes in at 24.64%, compared to the category average of 27.04%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 21.66% compared to the category average of 24.01%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
With a 5-year beta of 1.21, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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 -9.18, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FSCHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 1.21%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSCHX 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 Select Chemicals ( FSCHX ) 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 Mutual Fund Equity Report, 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.