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Is Fidelity International Real Estate (FIREX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Sector - Real Estate fund? Starting with Fidelity International Real Estate (FIREX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. FIREX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FIREX is one of many Sector - Real Estate funds to choose from. Sector - Real Estate mutual funds are known to invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs). A popular income vehicle thanks to its taxation rules, a REIT is required to pay out at least 90% of its income annually to avoid double taxation. This technique makes securities in these funds high dividend players, and even bond-like in some instances, though their risk is similar to equities.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FIREX. Fidelity International Real Estate debuted in December of 2004. Since then, FIREX has accumulated assets of about $172.83 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Guillermo de las Casas, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2010.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -0.37%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -8.9%, 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. The standard deviation of FIREX over the past three years is 17.29% compared to the category average of 15.1%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.18% compared to the category average of 15.96%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.8, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. FIREX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -11.72, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FIREX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.95% compared to the category average of 0.97%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FIREX 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 International Real Estate ( FIREX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity International Real Estate ( FIREX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Real Estate area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into FIREX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.
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Is Fidelity International Real Estate (FIREX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Sector - Real Estate fund? Starting with Fidelity International Real Estate (FIREX - Free Report) should not be a possibility at this time. FIREX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FIREX is one of many Sector - Real Estate funds to choose from. Sector - Real Estate mutual funds are known to invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs). A popular income vehicle thanks to its taxation rules, a REIT is required to pay out at least 90% of its income annually to avoid double taxation. This technique makes securities in these funds high dividend players, and even bond-like in some instances, though their risk is similar to equities.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FIREX. Fidelity International Real Estate debuted in December of 2004. Since then, FIREX has accumulated assets of about $172.83 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Guillermo de las Casas, has been in charge of the fund since April of 2010.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of -0.37%, and it sits in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of -8.9%, 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. The standard deviation of FIREX over the past three years is 17.29% compared to the category average of 15.1%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 17.18% compared to the category average of 15.96%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.8, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. FIREX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -11.72, which means managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, FIREX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.95% compared to the category average of 0.97%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FIREX 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 International Real Estate ( FIREX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity International Real Estate ( FIREX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the Sector - Real Estate area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into FIREX too for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.