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Is Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you're looking for a Large Cap Blend fund category, then a potential option is Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX - Free Report) . FGRIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FGRIX is classified in the Large Cap Blend segment by Zacks, which is an area full of potential. Targeting companies with market caps of more than $10 billion, Large Cap Blend mutual funds offer a stable investment choice; these funds are perfect for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Since blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, investors are exposed to both value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FGRIX. Since Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio made its debut in December of 1985, FGRIX has garnered more than $6.34 billion in assets. Matthew W. Fruhan is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2011.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.39%, and is in the middle 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 15.5%, which places it in the middle 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, FGRIX's standard deviation comes in at 10.42%, compared to the category average of 9.64%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.71% compared to the category average of 9.41%. 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, FGRIX lost 63.12% and outperformed its peer group by 13.45%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FGRIX has a 5-year beta of 1.07, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. With a negative alpha of -2.99, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 79.09% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $158.66 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Technology
Energy
This fund's turnover is about 40%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.
Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, FGRIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.61% compared to the category average of 1%. FGRIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio ( FGRIX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio ( FGRIX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Large Cap Blend segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.
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Is Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you're looking for a Large Cap Blend fund category, then a potential option is Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX - Free Report) . FGRIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FGRIX is classified in the Large Cap Blend segment by Zacks, which is an area full of potential. Targeting companies with market caps of more than $10 billion, Large Cap Blend mutual funds offer a stable investment choice; these funds are perfect for investors with a " buy and hold " mindset. Since blended funds mix large, more established firms into their portfolios, investors are exposed to both value and growth opportunities.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FGRIX. Since Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio made its debut in December of 1985, FGRIX has garnered more than $6.34 billion in assets. Matthew W. Fruhan is the fund's current manager and has held that role since February of 2011.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 11.39%, and is in the middle 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 15.5%, which places it in the middle 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, FGRIX's standard deviation comes in at 10.42%, compared to the category average of 9.64%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 10.71% compared to the category average of 9.41%. 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, FGRIX lost 63.12% and outperformed its peer group by 13.45%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FGRIX has a 5-year beta of 1.07, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. With a negative alpha of -2.99, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Exploring the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is mostly on equities that are traded in the United States.
The mutual fund currently has 79.09% of its holdings in stocks, with an average market capitalization of $158.66 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Finance
- Technology
- Energy
This fund's turnover is about 40%, so the fund managers are making fewer trades than its comparable peers.Expenses
For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, FGRIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.61% compared to the category average of 1%. FGRIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.
Bottom Line
Overall, Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio ( FGRIX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio ( FGRIX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.
Your research on the Large Cap Blend segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.