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Is FGMNX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?

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If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, Fidelity GNMA Fund (FGMNX - Free Report) could be a potential option. FGMNX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Fidelity is responsible for FGMNX, and the company is based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity GNMA Fund made its debut in November of 1985 and FGMNX has managed to accumulate roughly $3.64 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Franco Castagliuolo is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2009.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FGMNX has a 5-year annualized total return of 1.91% and it sits in the top 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 3.85%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

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. Over the past three years, FGMNX's standard deviation comes in at 1.52%, compared to the category average of 2.74%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 1.82% compared to the category average of 2.66%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

FGMNX carries a beta of 0.25, meaning that the fund is less volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. With this in mind, it has a negative alpha of -0.01, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.

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, FGMNX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.45% compared to the category average of 0.79%. So, FGMNX 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.

Bottom Line

Overall, Fidelity GNMA Fund ( FGMNX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FGMNX? 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. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.


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