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Is Fidelity Asset Manager 40% (FFANX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Allocation Balanced fund category, a potential starting could be Fidelity Asset Manager 40% (FFANX - Free Report) . FFANX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FFANX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.

History of Fund/Manager

FFANX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Asset Manager 40% made its debut in October of 2007 and FFANX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.71 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Avishek Hazrachoudhury who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2018.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.79%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 10.66%, 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. FFANX's standard deviation over the past three years is 7.28% compared to the category average of 10.8%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.23% compared to the category average of 12.23%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.51, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. FFANX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -3.91, 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, FFANX is a no load fund and it has an expense ratio of 0.48%.

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 consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

With a rank of 'hold' we aren't getting a good signal one way or another on FFANX. That is why it might be a good idea to consider other items, such as the fund's expense ratio of .48%, and how this compares to other potential options being considered for investment. If cheaper, it might make a decent choice, but a more expensive fund might be worth avoiding. Just make sure to pay attention to its rank in case it shifts in the near future.

Don't stop here for your research on Allocation Balanced funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FFANX to its peers as well for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.

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