Yahoo Finance Is FCBFX a Strong Bond Fund Right Now?
If investors are looking at the Mutual Fund Bond fund category, make sure to pass over Fidelity Corporate Bond Fund (FCBFX). FCBFX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
FCBFX is a part of the Fidelity family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. Since Fidelity Corporate Bond Fund made its debut in May of 2010, FCBFX has garnered more than $853.28 million in assets. The fund is currently managed by a team of investment professionals.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 2.07%, 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 -4.77%, 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. The standard deviation of FCBFX over the past three years is 8.71% compared to the category average of 13.46%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 8.78% compared to the category average of 14.08%. This makes the fund less volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
This fund has a beta of 1.07, meaning that it is more volatile than a broad market index of fixed income securities. Taking this into account, FCBFX has a positive alpha of 1.87, which measures performance on a risk-adjusted basis.
Ratings
Expenses
Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, FCBFX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.45% compared to the category average of 0.91%. From a cost perspective, FCBFX is actually cheaper than its peers.
While the minimum initial investment for the product is $0, investors should also note that 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, better downside risk, and lower fees, Fidelity Corporate Bond Fund ( FCBFX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
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