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Is Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion (FSCPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Any investors hoping to find a Sector - Other fund could think about starting with Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion (FSCPX - Free Report) . FSCPX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSCPX. The Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion made its debut in June of 1990 and FSCPX has managed to accumulate roughly $378.79 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Katherine Shaw who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2017.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FSCPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.65% 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 10.95%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

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 13.41%, the standard deviation of FSCPX over the past three years is 11.99%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 12.09% compared to the category average of 13.21%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

One cannot ignore the volatility of this segment, however, as it is always important for investors to remember the downside to any potential investment. In the most recent bear market, FSCPX lost 49.62% and underperformed its peer group by 1.21%. This makes the fund a possibly worse choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.1, the fund is likely to be more volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.37. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FSCPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.78% compared to the category average of 1.16%. FSCPX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Other 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 FSCPX to its peers as well for additional information. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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