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Is Fidelity Advisor Technology I (FATIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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

Objective

FATIX 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

FATIX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Advisor Technology I made its debut in September of 1996 and FATIX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.97 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Adam Benjamin, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2020.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FATIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 23% 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 10.38%, 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. FATIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 25.14% compared to the category average of 16.22%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 24.42% compared to the category average of 17.12%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.3, 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. FATIX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 0.46, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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.

Right now, 79.99% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $527.50 billion. With turnover at about 51%, this fund is making fewer trades than 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, FATIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.67% compared to the category average of 1.01%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FATIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while 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, Fidelity Advisor Technology I ( FATIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Tech, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.


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