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Is Fidelity Select Technology (FSPTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Equity Report funds, a place to start could be Fidelity Select Technology (FSPTX - Free Report) . FSPTX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FSPTX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Select Technology made its debut in July of 1981, FSPTX has garnered more than $11.47 billion in assets. Adam Benjamin is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2022.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 18.27%, and is 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 15.49%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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. FSPTX's standard deviation over the past three years is 25.83% compared to the category average of 26.08%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 24.97% compared to the category average of 25.48%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.18, 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. With a positive alpha of 4.5, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.

This fund is currently holding about 78.96% in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $461.16 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Other
With turnover at about 24%, this fund makes more trades per year than the comparable average.

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, FSPTX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.69% compared to the category average of 1.28%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSPTX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Select Technology ( FSPTX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Technology ( FSPTX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FSPTX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis 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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