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There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Energy category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Advisor Energy Fund M (FAGNX). FAGNX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
FAGNX is one of many Sector - Energy funds to choose from. Sector - Energy mutual funds are comprised of various changing and hugely important industries throughout the massive global energy sector. Even though clean energy is beginning to pick up steam, oil and gas companies have the highest exposure, but carbon-based fuels will be the biggest group of assets in these funds.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FAGNX. Fidelity Advisor Energy Fund M debuted in December of 1987. Since then, FAGNX has accumulated assets of about $129.62 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, John Dowd, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2006.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 0.09%, 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 7.07%, 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. Compared to the category average of 11.93%, the standard deviation of FAGNX over the past three years is 21.86%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 20.4% compared to the category average of 11.36%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors cannot discount the risks to this segment though, as it is always important to remember the downside for any potential investment. In FAGNX's case, the fund lost 56.62% in the most recent bear market and outperformed its peer group by 1.41%. This makes the fund a possibly better choice than its peers during a sliding market environment.
Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. FAGNX has a 5-year beta of 0.98, 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. FAGNX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -11.06, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.