Is Fidelity Select Materials (FSDPX) A Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Having trouble finding a Sector - Energy fund? Fidelity Select Materials FSDPX is a potential starting point. FSDPX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes FSDPX as Sector - Energy, a segment packed with options. Sector - Energy mutual funds encompass a wide range of vastly changing and vitally important industries throughout this massive global sector. Oil and gas comprise the bulk of the exposure here, and carbon-based fuels are going to be the majority of assets in these funds. However, clean energy is starting to pick up steam.

History of Fund/Manager

FSDPX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Materials debuted in September of 1986. Since then, FSDPX has accumulated assets of about $1.08 billion, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Richard Malnight who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2017.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.48%, 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 8.88%, 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. The standard deviation of FSDPX over the past three years is 15.87% compared to the category average of 11.19%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 13.93% compared to the category average of 19.03%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

It's always important to be aware of the downsides to any future investment, so one should not discount the risks that come with this segment. FSDPX lost 53.72% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1.6%. This means that the fund could possibly be a better choice than its peers during a down market environment.

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FSDPX has a 5-year beta of 1.22, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -8.09, which shows 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, FSDPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.80% compared to the category average of 1.44%. FSDPX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Select Materials has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, better downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Select Materials looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Sector - Energy 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.