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Is Fidelity Select Brokerage and Investment Management (FSLBX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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If you have been looking for Sector - Finance funds, a place to start could be Fidelity Select Brokerage and Investment Management (FSLBX - Free Report) . FSLBX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FSLBX is part of the Sector - Finance section, which boasts an array of other possible selections. Sector - Finance funds offer a stable, diversified approach to investing that focuses on the financial industry, an infamously large, complex, and heavily-regulated space. Funds here can include insurance companies and exchanges, as well as banks and investment giants. Investors should note that interest rates may also impact players in this market.

History of Fund/Manager

FSLBX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Brokerage and Investment Management made its debut in July of 1985, and since then, FSLBX has accumulated about $916.41 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Nadim Rabaia who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2023.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 18.49%, and it sits 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 10.41%, which places it in the top 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. FSLBX's standard deviation over the past three years is 24.23% compared to the category average of 0%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 23.56% compared to the category average of 7%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.19, so investors should note that it is hypothetically more volatile than the market at large. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. FSLBX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 1.63, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking 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, FSLBX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.75% compared to the category average of 79%. So, FSLBX is actually cheaper 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, Fidelity Select Brokerage and Investment Management ( FSLBX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on FSLBXin the Sector - Finance 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. 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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