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

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Having trouble finding a Sector - Energy fund? Well, Fidelity Select Materials (FSDPX - Free Report) would not be a good potential starting point right now. FSDPX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FSDPX 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

FSDPX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Select Materials made its debut in September of 1986, FSDPX has garnered more than $550.86 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by Ashley Fernandes who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2022.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FSDPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 11.4% and is 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 8.03%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.

It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.

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. FSDPX's standard deviation over the past three years is 22.98% compared to the category average of 15.59%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 23.61% compared to the category average of 17.06%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.13, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more 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. FSDPX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.84, 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, FSDPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 0.98%. From a cost perspective, FSDPX is actually cheaper than its peers.

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

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Select Materials ( FSDPX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FSDPX? 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.


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