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Is Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology A (FBTAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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On the lookout for a Sector - Health fund? Starting with Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology A (FBTAX - Free Report) is one possibility. FBTAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that FBTAX is a Sector - Health fund, and this area is also loaded with various options. Sector - Health mutual funds give investors an opportunity to focus on one of the largest sectors of the American economy, healthcare. Funds in this category can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FBTAX. Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology A made its debut in December of 2000, and since then, FBTAX has accumulated about $547.61 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Eirene Kontopoulos is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2018.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.6%, 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 9.32%, 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. FBTAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.32% compared to the category average of 14.24%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.32% compared to the category average of 14%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.55, so it is likely going to be less 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -5.91. This means that 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, FBTAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.96% compared to the category average of 0.98%. From a cost perspective, FBTAX 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 consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology A ( FBTAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Health funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FBTAX to its peers 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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Is Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology A (FBTAX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
On the lookout for a Sector - Health fund? Starting with Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology A (FBTAX - Free Report) is one possibility. FBTAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We note that FBTAX is a Sector - Health fund, and this area is also loaded with various options. Sector - Health mutual funds give investors an opportunity to focus on one of the largest sectors of the American economy, healthcare. Funds in this category can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FBTAX. Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology A made its debut in December of 2000, and since then, FBTAX has accumulated about $547.61 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Eirene Kontopoulos is the fund's current manager and has held that role since July of 2018.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.6%, 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 9.32%, 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. FBTAX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.32% compared to the category average of 14.24%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 19.32% compared to the category average of 14%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.55, so it is likely going to be less 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -5.91. This means that 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, FBTAX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.96% compared to the category average of 0.98%. From a cost perspective, FBTAX 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 consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, worse downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Advisor Biotechnology A ( FBTAX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Health funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare FBTAX to its peers 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.