Is Fidelity Select Retailing (FSRPX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

On the lookout for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Starting with Fidelity Select Retailing (FSRPX) is one possibility. FSRPX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSRPX. Since Fidelity Select Retailing made its debut in December of 1985, FSRPX has garnered more than $2.67 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Boris Shepov who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2018.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 9.73%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 6.36%, 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. Over the past three years, FSRPX's standard deviation comes in at 25.46%, compared to the category average of 27.2%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 22.68% compared to the category average of 23.48%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FSRPX has a 5-year beta of 1.11, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. FSRPX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 0.05, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, FSRPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.72% compared to the category average of 1.25%. From a cost perspective, FSRPX 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 Select Retailing ( FSRPX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Mutual Fund Equity Report segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.

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