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Is FCBFX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Mutual Fund Bond funds, it would not be wise to start your search with Fidelity Corporate Bond Fund (FCBFX - Free Report) . FCBFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

FCBFX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Corporate Bond Fund made its debut in May of 2010 and FCBFX has managed to accumulate roughly $852.06 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -0.27%, and is in the middle 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 -4.06%, 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 FCBFX over the past three years is 9.12% compared to the category average of 15.38%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 7.59% compared to the category average of 13.43%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

FCBFX carries a beta of 1.11, meaning that the fund is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a positive alpha of 1.02, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

Ratings

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, FCBFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.45% compared to the category average of 0.77%. From a cost perspective, FCBFX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $0; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

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

This could just be the start of your research on FCBFXin the Mutual Fund Bond category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well 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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