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Is Fidelity Four-In-One Index Fund (FFNOX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Are you on the hunt for an Allocation Balanced fund? You should think about starting with Fidelity Four-In-One Index Fund (FFNOX - Free Report) . While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.

Objective

The world of Zacks' Allocation Balanced funds is an area filled with options, such as FFNOX. These funds like to invest in a variety of asset types, finding a balance between stocks, bonds, cash, and sometimes even precious metals and commodities; they are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. For investors, Allocation Balanced funds can provide an entry point into diversified mutual funds, and present core holding options for a portfolio of funds.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FFNOX. Fidelity Four-In-One Index Fund made its debut in July of 1999, and since then, FFNOX has accumulated about $7.82 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Andrew Dierdorf who has been in charge of the fund since January of 2009.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.19%, and is 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 4.72%, which places it in the middle 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. The standard deviation of FFNOX over the past three years is 15.41% compared to the category average of 14.19%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.15% compared to the category average of 15.19%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.86, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less 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. FFNOX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.1, 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, FFNOX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.08% compared to the category average of 0.72%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FFNOX 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.

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

Bottom Line

Want even more information about FFNOX? 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. And don't forget, Zacks has all of your needs covered on the equity side too! Make sure to check out Zacks.com for more information on our screening capabilities, Rank, and all our articles as well.


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