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Is Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Sector - Health fund? Starting with Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX - Free Report) is one possibility. FSMEX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that FSMEX is a Sector - Health fund, and this area is also loaded with various options. Sector - Health mutual funds give investors an opportunity to focus on one of the largest sectors of the American economy, healthcare. Funds in this category can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSMEX. Since Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems made its debut in April of 1998, FSMEX has garnered more than $25.80 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Edward L. Yoon who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2007.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 20.72%, 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 15.16%, 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. Over the past three years, FSMEX's standard deviation comes in at 14.67%, compared to the category average of 17.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.5% compared to the category average of 16.47%. 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, FSMEX lost 27.95% and outperformed its peer group by 4.93%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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 positive alpha of 9.22. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, FSMEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 1.31%. FSMEX 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 $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems 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.
This could just be the start of your research on FSMEX in the Sector - Health 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Sector - Health fund? Starting with Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems (FSMEX - Free Report) is one possibility. FSMEX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that FSMEX is a Sector - Health fund, and this area is also loaded with various options. Sector - Health mutual funds give investors an opportunity to focus on one of the largest sectors of the American economy, healthcare. Funds in this category can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSMEX. Since Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems made its debut in April of 1998, FSMEX has garnered more than $25.80 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Edward L. Yoon who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2007.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 20.72%, 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 15.16%, 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. Over the past three years, FSMEX's standard deviation comes in at 14.67%, compared to the category average of 17.31%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 13.5% compared to the category average of 16.47%. 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, FSMEX lost 27.95% and outperformed its peer group by 4.93%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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 positive alpha of 9.22. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, FSMEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 1.31%. FSMEX 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 $2,500; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Select Medical Equipment & Systems 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.
This could just be the start of your research on FSMEX in the Sector - Health 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. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.