Is Fidelity Asset Manager 70% (FASGX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

FASGX

There are plenty of choices in the Allocation Balanced category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that you should consider investigating is Fidelity Asset Manager 70% (FASGX - Free Report) . FASGX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

FASGX is one of many Zacks' Allocation Balanced mutual funds to pick from. Allocation Balanced funds seek to invest in a balance of asset types, like stocks, bonds, and cash, though including precious metals or commodities is not unusual; these funds are mostly categorized by their respective asset allocation. Investors utilize Allocation Balanced funds as a way to get a good start with diversified mutual funds, as well as for core holdings in a portfolio of funds.

History of Fund/Manager

FASGX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. The Fidelity Asset Manager 70% made its debut in December of 1991 and FASGX has managed to accumulate roughly $422.32 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Avishek Hazrachoudhury who has been in charge of the fund since April of 2018.

Performance

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 9.18%, and is in the middle third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3 -year annualized total return of 2.76%, which places it in the bottom 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 41%, the standard deviation of FASGX over the past three years is 13.63%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 14.12% compared to the category average of -44%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.76, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. 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 negative alpha of -3.17, 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, FASGX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.65% compared to the category average of 0%. From a cost perspective, FASGX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $0, while there is no minimum for each subsequent investment.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively similar performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Fidelity Asset Manager 70% ( FASGX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

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