Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Fidelity Advisor Technology M (FATEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

If investors are looking at the Sector - Tech fund category, Fidelity Advisor Technology M (FATEX - Free Report) could be a potential option. FATEX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FATEX is part of the Sector - Tech category, which boasts an array of different possible selections. With a much more diversified approach, Sector - Tech mutual funds give investors a way to own a stake in a notoriously risky sector. Tech companies are in various industries like semiconductors, software, internet, and networking, among others.

History of Fund/Manager

FATEX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Advisor Technology M debuted in September of 1996. Since then, FATEX has accumulated assets of about $787.90 million, according to the most recently available information. Adam Benjamin is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2020.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 23.84%, 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 9.94%, 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. FATEX's standard deviation over the past three years is 24.86% compared to the category average of 16.53%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 24.47% compared to the category average of 17.12%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1.22, 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 5.81, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, FATEX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.19% compared to the category average of 1.01%. So, FATEX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

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 Technology M ( FATEX ) 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 FATEXin the Sector - Tech 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. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Fidelity Advisor Technology M (FATEX) - free report >>

Published in