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Is Fidelity Advisor Gold A (FGDAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Fidelity Advisor Gold A (FGDAX - Free Report) . FGDAX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FGDAX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Advisor Gold A debuted in December of 2006. Since then, FGDAX has accumulated assets of about $77.05 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Colin Anderson who has been in charge of the fund since August of 2023.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FGDAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 5.5% and it sits in the bottom 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 -8.53%, 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. FGDAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 30.46% compared to the category average of 16.86%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 33.67% compared to the category average of 18.55%. This makes the fund more 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. FGDAX has a 5-year beta of 0.93, which means it is likely to be less 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. FGDAX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -4.54, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick 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, FGDAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.08% compared to the category average of 1.05%. So, FGDAX is actually more expensive than its peers from a cost perspective.

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, even with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Fidelity Advisor Gold A ( FGDAX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FGDAX to its peers 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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