If investors are looking at the Sector - Finance fund category, Fidelity Advisor Financial Services A (FAFDX) could be a potential option. FAFDX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FAFDX is one of many Sector - Finance funds to choose from. Sector - Finance mutual funds provide investors with a diversified and stabilized investment approach focused on the financial space, which is a notoriously large, complex, and heavily-regulated industry. These funds include everything from insurance companies and exchanges to banks and investment giants; interest rates can impact the players of this space as well.

History of Fund/Manager

FAFDX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Advisor Financial Services A made its debut in September of 1996 and FAFDX has managed to accumulate roughly $267.24 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Matt Reed, has been in charge of the fund since June of 2019.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 21.42%, and is 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 22.4%, 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. Compared to the category average of 12.85%, the standard deviation of FAFDX over the past three years is 19.92%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 21.07% compared to the category average of 13.29%. 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. FAFDX has a 5-year beta of 1, which means it is likely to be as volatile as 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. FAFDX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 5.35, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.