Is Fidelity Large Cap Growth Enhance Index (FLGEX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Any investors who are searching for Large Cap Growth funds should take a look at Fidelity Large Cap Growth Enhance Index (FLGEX). While this fund is not tracked by the Zacks Mutual Fund Rank, we were able to examine other factors like performance, volatility, and cost.

Objective

FLGEX is classified in the Large Cap Growth segment by Zacks, an area full of possibilities. Companies are usually considered to be large-cap if their stock market valuation is more than $10 billion. Large Cap Growth mutual funds invest in many large U.S. firms that are projected to grow at a faster rate than their large-cap peers.

History of Fund/Manager

FLGEX finds itself in the Fidelity family, based out of Boston, MA. Fidelity Large Cap Growth Enhance Index made its debut in May of 2007, and since then, FLGEX has accumulated about $1.45 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. FLGEX has a 5-year annualized total return of 20.22% and is in the top 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 17.39%, 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, FLGEX's standard deviation comes in at 19.15%, compared to the category average of 16.77%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 15.58% compared to the category average of 14.11%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 1, the fund 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a positive alpha of 3.59. This means that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Examining 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 largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

As of the last filing date, the mutual fund has 92.6% of its assets in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $412.71 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  1. Technology

  2. Retail Trade

This fund's turnover is about 69%, so the fund managers are making more trades in a given year than the average of comparable funds.

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, FLGEX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.39% compared to the category average of 1.03%. FLGEX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $0 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Don't stop here for your research on Large Cap Growth 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 FLGEX to its peers as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.


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