There are plenty of choices in the Sector – Precious Metal category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Fidelity Advisor Gold A (FGDAX). FGDAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
The world of Sector – Precious Metal funds is an area filled with options, such as FGDAX. Usually, Sector – Precious Metal mutual funds invest in stocks with a focus on the mining and production of precious metals like gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. Here, stocks often trade as leveraged bets of the underlying commodity, meaning they’re tied to the metal’s prices and can be volatile.
History of Fund/Manager
Fidelity is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of FGDAX. Fidelity Advisor Gold A debuted in December of 2006. Since then, FGDAX has accumulated assets of about $231.49 million, according to the most recently available information. The fund is currently managed by Boris Shepov who has been in charge of the fund since December of 2024.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. FGDAX has a 5-year annualized total return of 14.25%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 33.44%, 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. Over the past three years, FGDAX’s standard deviation comes in at 34.95%, compared to the category average of 15.06%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund’s standard deviation is 33.73% compared to the category average of 16.36%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.65, so it is likely going to be less volatile than the market at large. 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. FGDAX has generated a positive alpha over the past five years of 9.04, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
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