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Is Fidelity Asset Manager 50% (FASMX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Have you been searching for an Allocation Balanced fund? You might want to begin with Fidelity Asset Manager 50% (FASMX - Free Report) . FASMX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FASMX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FASMX. The Fidelity Asset Manager 50% made its debut in December of 1988 and FASMX has managed to accumulate roughly $7.21 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Avishek Hazrachoudhury is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2018.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FASMX has a 5-year annualized total return of 6.25% and is in the bottom 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 1.38%, 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. Compared to the category average of 14.02%, the standard deviation of FASMX over the past three years is 11.16%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 11.27% compared to the category average of 14.78%. This makes the fund less 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. FASMX has a 5-year beta of 0.6, 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. FASMX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -3.45, 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, FASMX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.59% compared to the category average of 0.93%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FASMX 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.

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

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity Asset Manager 50% ( FASMX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Asset Manager 50% ( FASMX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Your research on the Allocation Balanced segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well 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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