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Is Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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Having trouble finding a Large Cap Blend fund? Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX - Free Report) is a possible starting point. FGRIX holds 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. Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio debuted in December of 1985. Since then, FGRIX has accumulated assets of about $5.84 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Matthew W. Fruhan who has been in charge of the fund 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 8.24%, and it sits in the middle 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 11.86%, 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. Compared to the category average of 10.03%, the standard deviation of FGRIX over the past three years is 11.72%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.3% compared to the category average of 10.43%. 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 underperformed its peer group by 13.75%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.06, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than 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 negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.83, which shows that 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.
Right now, 77.49% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $184.52 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
Finance
Technology
Non-Durable
Industrial Cyclical
With turnover at about 38%, this fund is 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 0.96%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FGRIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
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, similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Blend, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
Having trouble finding a Large Cap Blend fund? Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio (FGRIX - Free Report) is a possible starting point. FGRIX holds 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. Fidelity Growth & Income Portfolio debuted in December of 1985. Since then, FGRIX has accumulated assets of about $5.84 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Matthew W. Fruhan who has been in charge of the fund 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 8.24%, and it sits in the middle 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 11.86%, 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. Compared to the category average of 10.03%, the standard deviation of FGRIX over the past three years is 11.72%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 12.3% compared to the category average of 10.43%. 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 underperformed its peer group by 13.75%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.
Nevertheless, investors should also note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.06, which means it is hypothetically more volatile than 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 negative alpha over the past 5 years of -2.83, which shows that 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.
Right now, 77.49% of this mutual fund's holdings are stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $184.52 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
- Finance
- Technology
- Non-Durable
- Industrial Cyclical
With turnover at about 38%, this fund is 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 0.96%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FGRIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
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, similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees compared to its peers.
For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Large Cap Blend, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.