Sector – Other fund seekers should consider taking a look at Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion (FSCPX). FSCPX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is responsible for FSCPX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Select Consumer Discretion debuted in June of 1990. Since then, FSCPX has accumulated assets of about $304.84 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund’s current manager, Jordan Michaels, has been in charge of the fund since July of 2022.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. FSCPX has a 5-year annualized total return of 4.62%, and is in the middle 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 12.03%, 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. FSCPX’s standard deviation over the past three years is 18.23% compared to the category average of 12.06%. The fund’s standard deviation over the past 5 years is 22.21% compared to the category average of 14.12%. 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. FSCPX has a 5-year beta of 1.26, which means it is likely to be more volatile than the market average. 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. FSCPX’s 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -8.35, which means 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, FSCPX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.68% compared to the category average of 0.93%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, FSCPX is actually cheaper than its peers.