Is Fidelity Select Energy Portfolio (FSENX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

Having trouble finding a Sector – Energy fund? Fidelity Select Energy Portfolio (FSENX) is a potential starting point. FSENX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

We classify FSENX in the Sector – Energy category, an area that is rife with possible choices. Throughout the massive global energy sector, Sector – Energy mutual funds hold a wide range of quickly changing and vitally important industries. While oil and gas comprise the bulk of the exposure, carbon-based fuels will be the biggest group of assets in these funds, though clean energy is starting to pick up steam.

Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FSENX. The Fidelity Select Energy Portfolio made its debut in July of 1981 and FSENX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.68 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Maurice FitzMaurice is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since January of 2020.

Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 22.02%, 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 4.26%, 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. The standard deviation of FSENX over the past three years is 27.13% compared to the category average of 24.92%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 29.76% compared to the category average of 33.88%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.75, so it is likely going to be less volatile than 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. FSENX’s 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 12.16, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.