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Is Fidelity Select Air Transportation (FSAIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Other category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Select Air Transportation . FSAIX bears 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 FSAIX. Fidelity Select Air Transportation made its debut in December of 1985, and since then, FSAIX has accumulated about $339.02 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Matthew Moulis, has been in charge of the fund since January of 2012.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 17.64%, and is in the top 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 16.57%, 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. FSAIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 13.94% compared to the category average of 13.4%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 13.55% compared to the category average of 13.11%. This makes the fund more 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. FSAIX lost 61.29% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 12.88%. This could mean that the fund is a better choice than comparable funds during a bear market.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1, so it is likely going to be as volatile as 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 3.25, which shows 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, FSAIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.82% compared to the category average of 1.14%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSAIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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 Air Transportation ( FSAIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Air Transportation ( FSAIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FSAIXin the Sector - Other 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. 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.