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Is Fidelity Real Estate Income (FRIFX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Looking for a Sector - Real Estate fund? You may want to consider Fidelity Real Estate Income (FRIFX - Free Report) as a possible option. FRIFX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

We classify FRIFX in the Sector - Real Estate category, an area full of possible choices. Sector - Real Estate mutual funds typically invest in various real estate investment trusts (REIT). A REIT is a popular income vehicle thanks to taxation rules that require REITs to payout at least 90% of their income each year in order to avoid double taxation. This technique makes securities here high dividend payers, and almost bond like in some cases; however, they still carry the risk of equities.

History of Fund/Manager

FRIFX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Real Estate Income made its debut in February of 2003, FRIFX has garnered more than $1.57 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Mark Snyderman who has been in charge of the fund since February of 2003.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 0.46%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -3.04%, 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. FRIFX's standard deviation over the past three years is 15.35% compared to the category average of 11.6%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 12.38% compared to the category average of 12.35%. 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. In FRIFX's case, the fund lost 34.97% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 29%. These results could imply that the fund is a better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.58, so it is likely going to be less 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. FRIFX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.4, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FRIFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.72% compared to the category average of 1.26%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FRIFX 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 Real Estate Income ( FRIFX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Real Estate Income ( FRIFX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FRIFX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. If you are more of a stock investor, make sure to also check out our Zacks Rank, and our full suite of tools we have available for novice and professional investors alike.


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