If you have been looking for Sector - Energy fund category, a potential starting could be Fidelity Advisor Energy Fund M (FAGNX Quick QuoteFAGNX - Free Report) . FAGNX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FAGNX is one of many Sector - Energy funds to choose from. Sector - Energy mutual funds are comprised of various changing and hugely important industries throughout the massive global energy sector. Even though clean energy is beginning to pick up steam, oil and gas companies have the highest exposure, but carbon-based fuels will be the biggest group of assets in these funds.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FAGNX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Advisor Energy Fund M made its debut in December of 1987, and since then, FAGNX has accumulated about $57.29 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Maurice Fitzmaurice is the fund's current manager and has held that role since January of 2020.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FAGNX has a 5-year annualized total return of -9.37% 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 -14.3%, 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. The standard deviation of FAGNX over the past three years is 25.37% compared to the category average of 12.87%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 24.61% compared to the category average of 13.05%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In FAGNX's case, the fund lost 56.62% in the most recent bear market and underperformed its peer group by 1%. This could mean that the fund is a worse choice than comparable funds during a bear market.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 1.35, so it is likely going to be more volatile than the market at large. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -17.73. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, FAGNX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.36% compared to the category average of 1.56%. So, FAGNX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Advisor Energy Fund M ( FAGNX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Advisor Energy Fund M ( FAGNX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Sector - Energy, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.