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Is Fidelity Small Cap Growth (FCPGX) 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 Small Cap Growth (FCPGX - Free Report) . FCPGX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is responsible for FCPGX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Small Cap Growth made its debut in November of 2004 and FCPGX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.77 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Patrick Venanzi is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2011.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 7.87%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.17%, which places it in the middle 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. FCPGX's standard deviation over the past three years is 21.39% compared to the category average of 15.65%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 23.06% compared to the category average of 16.81%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FCPGX has a 5-year beta of 1.09, which means it 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 -4.04, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 83.5% of its assets in stocks and it has 4.72% of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Technology
Health
Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is about 60%, so those in charge of the fund make more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.
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, FCPGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.06% compared to the category average of 1.18%. From a cost perspective, FCPGX 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.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Small Cap Growth ( FCPGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FCPGX? 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. 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 Small Cap Growth (FCPGX) 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 Small Cap Growth (FCPGX - Free Report) . FCPGX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is responsible for FCPGX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Small Cap Growth made its debut in November of 2004 and FCPGX has managed to accumulate roughly $2.77 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Patrick Venanzi is the fund's current manager and has held that role since November of 2011.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 7.87%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 8.17%, which places it in the middle 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. FCPGX's standard deviation over the past three years is 21.39% compared to the category average of 15.65%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 23.06% compared to the category average of 16.81%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FCPGX has a 5-year beta of 1.09, which means it 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 -4.04, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Examining 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 principally on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 83.5% of its assets in stocks and it has 4.72% of assets in foreign securities. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Technology
- Health
- Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is about 60%, so those in charge of the fund make more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.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, FCPGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.06% compared to the category average of 1.18%. From a cost perspective, FCPGX 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.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Small Cap Growth ( FCPGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
Want even more information about FCPGX? 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.