On the lookout for a Sector - Health fund? Starting with Franklin Biotechnology Discovery A (FBDIX) is one possibility. FBDIX 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 - Health funds is an area filled with options, such as FBDIX. Healthcare is one of the biggest sectors of the American economy, and Sector - Health mutual funds provide a great opportunity to invest in this industry. Here, funds can include everything from for-profit hospitals to pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.

History of Fund/Manager

FBDIX is a part of the Franklin family of funds, a company based out of San Mateo, CA. The Franklin Biotechnology Discovery A made its debut in September of 1997 and FBDIX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.02 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Evan McCulloch is the fund's current manager and has held that role since September of 1997.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 11.68%, 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 29.92%, 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. Over the past three years, FBDIX's standard deviation comes in at 20.81%, compared to the category average of 12.4%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 19.64% compared to the category average of 13.86%. 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 0.58, 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. FBDIX's 5-year performance has produced a positive alpha of 3.45, which means managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, FBDIX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.01% compared to the category average of 0.97%. From a cost perspective, FBDIX is actually more expensive than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $1,000; each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.

Bottom Line

Overall, even with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Franklin Biotechnology Discovery A ( FBDIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a good potential choice for investors right now.

Want even more information about FBDIX? Then go over to Zacks.com and check out our mutual fund comparison tool, and all of the other great features that we have to help you with your mutual fund analysis for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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