Should You Invest in the Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF (FMAT)?
Designed to provide broad exposure to the Materials - Broad segment of the equity market, the Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF (FMAT) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 10/21/2013.
Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.
Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Materials - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 16, placing it in bottom 0%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by Fidelity. It has amassed assets over $212.03 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Materials - Broad segment of the equity market. FMAT seeks to match the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Materials Index before fees and expenses.
MSCI USA IMI Materials Index represents the performance of the materials sector in the U.S. equity market.
Costs
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.08%, making it the least expensive product in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.94%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Materials sector--about 100% of the portfolio.
Looking at individual holdings, Linde Plc (LIN) accounts for about 12.44% of total assets, followed by Air Products + Chemicals Inc (APD) and Ecolab Inc (ECL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 50.47% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -2.74% and was up about 15.74% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 01/10/2020), respectively. FMAT has traded between $29.18 and $34.33 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.24 and standard deviation of 15.48% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 125 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, FMAT is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Materials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB) tracks Materials Select Sector Index and the FlexShares Morningstr Globl Upstream Naturl Resourcs Indx Fund (GUNR) tracks Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources Index. Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund has $3.55 B in assets, FlexShares Morningstr Globl Upstream Naturl Resourcs Indx Fund has $5.47 B. XLB has an expense ratio of 0.13% and GUNR charges 0.46%.
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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Fidelity MSCI Materials Index ETF (FMAT): ETF Research Reports
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Ecolab Inc. (ECL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLB): ETF Research Reports
Linde plc (LIN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
FlexShares Morningstr Globl Upstream Naturl Resourcs Indx Fund (GUNR): ETF Research Reports
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