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

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Have you been searching for a Sector - Other fund? You might want to begin with Fidelity Select Transportation (FSRFX - Free Report) . FSRFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), 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 FSRFX. The Fidelity Select Transportation made its debut in September of 1986 and FSRFX has managed to accumulate roughly $517.33 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. Matthew Moulis is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2012.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FSRFX has a 5-year annualized total return of 16.73% and it sits in the top 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 16.81%, 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. The standard deviation of FSRFX over the past three years is 15.18% compared to the category average of 13.4%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 14.52% 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. In the most recent bear market, FSRFX lost 51.98% and outperformed its peer group by 3.57%. This means that the fund could possibly be a better choice than its peers during a down market environment.

Nevertheless, with a 5-year beta of 1.04, 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. The fund has produced a positive alpha over the past 5 years of 2.02, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, FSRFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 1.14%. From a cost perspective, FSRFX 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 Transportation ( FSRFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FSRFXin 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


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