Sector Funds

Overview

Product Information

Sector Portfolio Strategies

Historical Returns & Volatility

Historical Returns

Managing a portfolio of individual stocks can involve substantial research time, capital, and trading expenses.

Sector funds offer access to an investment with the potential for aggressive returns while simplifying the investment process. For example, if you have a definitive viewpoint about the future of a given industry but are uncertain as to which individual stocks to buy, sector funds provide a means of acting on that viewpoint.

Sector funds can also provide a measure of stock diversification within an industry.

The table below gives historical examples of the range of long-term average annual returns for several industries of the S&P 500®.

Chart shows standard deviation portraying the historical volatility of various sectors and narrower industries of the S&P 500.
  • Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
    This chart does not represent or imply the performance of any Fidelity fund. Average annual returns reflect price appreciation changes only (excluding dividends). 5-year period: December 31, 2000 - December 31, 2005. 10-year period: December 31, 1995 - December 31, 2005. The S&P 500® is a registered trademark of the McGraw Hill Companies, Inc. and has been licensed for use by Fidelity Distributors Corporation and its affiliates. You cannot invest directly in an index. Chart Source: Bloomberg, 2006

Historical Volatility

In the chart below, highest and lowest monthly returns are used to portray the historical volatility of various sectors and narrower industries of the S&P 500. In these examples, the returns are tracked over a 10-year period. As you can see, investing in certain industries and sectors may provide more volatile returns than investing in broader segments of the market.

Table showing historical examples of the range of long-term average annual returns for several industries of the S&P 500.

  • Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
    This chart does not represent or imply the performance of any Fidelity fund. All sector and industry performance figures reflect the monthly returns of price appreciation changes only (excluding dividends) for the time period December 31, 1995 - December 31, 2005. Chart Source: Bloomberg, 2006

Related Links

Investor Profile

Sector Fund investors tend to:

  • Hold a diversified portfolio
  • Have a high tolerance for risk in a portion of their portfolio
  • Actively manage their own portfolios
  • Accept a certain level of share price volatility
Fidelity Investments Home Copyright 1998–2008 FMR LLC
All rights reserved.
Terms of Use  Privacy  Security  Site Map