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Is Fidelity Real Estate Income (FRIFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Having trouble finding a Sector - Real Estate fund? Fidelity Real Estate Income (FRIFX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. FRIFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify FRIFX in the Sector - Real Estate category, an area full of possible choices. Sector - Real Estate mutual funds typically invest in various real estate investment trusts (REITs). A REIT is a popular income vehicle thanks to taxation rules that require REITs to payout at least 90% of their income each year in order to avoid double taxation. This technique makes securities here high dividend payers, and almost bond-like in some cases; however, they still carry the risk of equities.

History of Fund/Manager

FRIFX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Real Estate Income made its debut in February of 2003, FRIFX has garnered more than $1.25 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Bill Maclay who has been in charge of the fund since March of 2019.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 6.76%, 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 8.41%, which places it in the bottom 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. Over the past three years, FRIFX's standard deviation comes in at 7.71%, compared to the category average of 13.07%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 9% compared to the category average of 13.51%. 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 0.47, which means it is hypothetically less 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. FRIFX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -2.44, which means 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, FRIFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.66% compared to the category average of 0.87%. FRIFX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

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 consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Real Estate Income ( FRIFX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a great potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Sector - Real Estate segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer 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.


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