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Should You Invest in the Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF (FSTA)?

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The Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF (FSTA - Free Report) was launched on 10/21/2013, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market.

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.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Consumer Staples - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 6, placing it in top 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Fidelity. It has amassed assets over $621.43 M, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market. FSTA seeks to match the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Consumer Staples Index before fees and expenses.

MSCI USA IMI Consumer Staples Index represents the performance of the consumer staples 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 2.42%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

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

Looking at individual holdings, Procter + Gamble Co/the (PG - Free Report) accounts for about 15% of total assets, followed by Coca Cola Co/the (KO - Free Report) and Pepsico Inc (PEP - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 69.98% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF has gained about 1.78% so far, and it's up approximately 19.96% over the last 12 months (as of 02/13/2020). FSTA has traded between $32.46 and $38.52 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.60 and standard deviation of 11.09% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 96 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, FSTA is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP - Free Report) tracks Consumer Staples Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF has $5.68 B in assets, Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF has $14.15 B. VDC has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLP charges 0.13%.

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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