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Is Fidelity Select Chemicals (FSCHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Sector - Other fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Fidelity Select Chemicals (FSCHX - Free Report) . FSCHX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various 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 $621.52 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Emma Baumgartner, has been in charge of the fund since August of 2023.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.83%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.71%, 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 22.9%, the standard deviation of FSCHX over the past three years is 22.25%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 24.19% compared to the category average of 26.3%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.15, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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 -6.86, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FSCHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.74% compared to the category average of 1.11%. So, FSCHX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 Chemicals ( FSCHX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FSCHXin the Sector - Other 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 are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is Fidelity Select Chemicals (FSCHX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Sector - Other fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Fidelity Select Chemicals (FSCHX - Free Report) . FSCHX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various 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 $621.52 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Emma Baumgartner, has been in charge of the fund since August of 2023.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 7.83%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 7.71%, 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 22.9%, the standard deviation of FSCHX over the past three years is 22.25%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 24.19% compared to the category average of 26.3%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.15, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. 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 -6.86, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FSCHX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.74% compared to the category average of 1.11%. So, FSCHX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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 Chemicals ( FSCHX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on FSCHXin the Sector - Other 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 are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.