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Is Fidelity Advisor Small Cap Growth A (FCAGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Fidelity Advisor Small Cap Growth A (FCAGX - Free Report) is one possibility. FCAGX holds 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 FCAGX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Advisor Small Cap Growth A made its debut in November of 2004, and since then, FCAGX has accumulated about $309.82 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Patrick Venanzi, has been in charge of the fund since November of 2011.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 12.5%, and is in the top 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 -0.86%, 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. Compared to the category average of 15.96%, the standard deviation of FCAGX over the past three years is 21.14%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 22.63% compared to the category average of 16.72%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.08, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -3.06. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Exploring 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.

The mutual fund currently has 88.58% of its holdings in stocks, and these companies have an average market capitalization of $5.35 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Industrial Cyclical
  • Health
Turnover is 75%, which means this fund makes more trades in a given year than the category 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, FCAGX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.32% compared to the category average of 1%. FCAGX is actually more expensive than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Fidelity Advisor Small Cap Growth A ( FCAGX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FCAGXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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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