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Is Fidelity Blue Chip Growth K (FBGKX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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There are plenty of choices in the Large Cap Growth category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Blue Chip Growth K (FBGKX - Free Report) . FBGKX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify FBGKX in the Large Cap Growth category, an area rife with potential choices. Large Cap Growth funds invest in many large U.S. companies that are expected to grow much faster compared to other large-cap stocks. To be considered large-cap, companies must have a market cap over $10 billion.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FBGKX. Fidelity Blue Chip Growth K debuted in May of 2008. Since then, FBGKX has accumulated assets of about $4.87 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Sonu Kalra, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2009.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 11.34%, 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 11.91%, 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 the fund over the past 5 years is 13.13% compared to the category average of 1.05%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should always remember the downsides to a potential investment, and this segment carries some risks one should be aware of.

Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.04, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 2.6. This means 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, FBGKX is a no load fund and it has an expense ratio of 0.62%.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

This puts this fund from Fidelity in the top 40% of all mutual funds we have a rank on right now. As a result, this is likely an excellent choice for investors seeking an option in the Large Cap Growth category.

For additional information on the Large Cap Growth area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into FBGKX too for additional information. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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