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Should You Invest in the Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF (FMAT)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Materials - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF (FMAT - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 10/21/2013.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Materials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 14, placing it in bottom 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Fidelity. It has amassed assets over $213.79 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Materials - Broad segment of the equity market. FMAT seeks to match the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Materials Index before fees and expenses.

MSCI USA IMI Materials Index represents the performance of the materials sector in the U.S. equity market.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.08%, making it the least expensive product in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.38%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Materials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Dowdupont Inc accounts for about 15.07% of total assets, followed by Linde Plc (LIN - Free Report) and Ecolab Inc (ECL - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 53.54% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added roughly 10.74% and is down about -6.86% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 03/18/2019), respectively. FMAT has traded between $26.67 and $35.34 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.18 and standard deviation of 15.44% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 123 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. FMAT, then, is not a suitable option for investors seeking exposure to the Materials ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.

Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB - Free Report) tracks Materials Select Sector Index and the FlexShares Morningstr Globl Upstream Naturl Resourcs Indx Fund (GUNR - Free Report) tracks Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources Index. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has $4.44 B in assets, FlexShares Morningstr Globl Upstream Naturl Resourcs Indx Fund has $5.59 B. XLB has an expense ratio of 0.13% and GUNR charges 0.46%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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