Mutual Fund Equity Report fund seekers may want to consider taking a look at Fidelity Advisor Equity Growth A (EPGAX). EPGAX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
EPGAX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Advisor Equity Growth A made its debut in November of 1983, EPGAX has garnered more than $1.50 billion in assets. The fund is currently managed by Jason Weiner who has been in charge of the fund since November of 2006.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. EPGAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 13.23% 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 13.64%, 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, EPGAX's standard deviation comes in at 19.5%, compared to the category average of 18.51%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 19.69% compared to the category average of 16.31%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 1.01, so investors should note that it is hypothetically as volatile as the market at large. 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. With a positive alpha of 1.73, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Holdings
Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is primarily on equities that are traded in the United States.
As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 76.73% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $332.30 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:
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Technology
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Finance
Turnover is 40%, which means this fund makes fewer trades than comparable funds.