Fidelity Mutual Funds is the next family of funds we're going to discuss in this series. We'll start that discussion with a brief history of Fidelity. Next, we'll talk about their fee structure. Finally, we'll identify some of their top performing mutual funds.
Fidelity Family of Funds
Fidelity Fund, or what is known as Fidelity Investments today, was established in 1943 with the belief that making money for its shareholders was best achieved through intensive research. Today, Fidelity claims to employ the largest staff of managers, traders, and analysts in the mutual fund industry. Nearly 42,000 employees are engaged in these activities worldwide.
Fidelity is one of the largest mutual fund families in the world; with over $2.0 trillion in assets under management (October 2019). Fidelity offers more than 500 mutual funds including money market funds, domestic and international stock funds, bond funds, index funds, and specialty sector offerings. Fidelity offers investors a wide range of services including 529 plans, Roth IRAs, Traditional IRA accounts, and even access to non-Fidelity funds.
Fee Structure and Returns
According to Morningstar, Fidelity fee structures are Average to Below Average when compared to other mutual funds. This includes domestic stocks (0.78%), international stocks (1.11%), municipal bonds (0.61%), and taxable bonds (0.72%). The majority of assets controlled by Fidelity, nearly 50%, are invested in domestic stocks. (October 2019)
The minimum investment to open an account at Fidelity is just $2,500, and most assets (96.83%) are held in no-load mutual funds. This is an important point when considering the impact of fees on the investment's return. As of October 2019 the average return on Fidelity mutual funds is 7.32% over the past five years.
Top Rated Fidelity Mutual Funds
It would be hard to talk about Fidelity mutual funds without a quick mention of the Magellan Fund. At times the largest mutual fund on the market, Magellan's assets hover around $17 billion. Unfortunately, Magellan has underperformed the S&P over the last several years, and its total return over that timeframe is 12.15% (October 2019).
With that brief introduction behind us, let's take a look at the top rated Fidelity mutual funds:
Fidelity Advisor Growth Opps M (FAOX)
Assets: $7.0 billion
Category: US Fund Large Growth
Specialty: None
Top Three Holdings: Microsoft Corp, Alphabet Inc Class C, and Amazon.com Inc
Load: 3.50%
Minimum Investment: $2,500
Expense Ratio: 1.28%
5-Year Average Return: 17.38%
Fidelity Advisor Municipal Inc 2023 I (FSWTX)
Assets: $36.2 million
Category: US Fund Muni Target Maturity
Specialty: None
Top Three Holdings: CLARK CNTY NEV PASSENGER FAC CHARGE REV 5%, ILLINOIS ST SALES TAX REV 5%, MIAMI-DADE CNTY FLA SCH BRD CTFS PARTN 5%
Load: 4.00%
Minimum Investment: $2,500
Expense Ratio: 0.40%
5-Year Average Return: 2.48%
Fidelity Advisor Series Growth Opps (FAPFX)
Assets: $568.0 million
Category: US Large Growth
Specialty: None
Top Three Holdings: Microsoft Corp, Alphabet Inc Class C, and Amazon.com Inc
Load: None
Minimum Investment: $2,500
Expense Ratio: 0.01%
5-Year Average Return: 18.49%