Ian McDonald
Fund titan Fidelity is planning to launch its sagging (FFTYX Quote - Cramer on FFTYX - Stock Picks)Fidelity Fifty fund for the adviser crowd to sell.
The existing direct-sold version already levies a maximum 3% sales charge, or load, but the new "Adviser" version will have higher annual expenses, with most share classes also carrying loads. It might be a tough sell given the fund's track record. Fifty, launched in 1993, typically holds the 50 or 60 stocks the manager thinks have the best growth potential. But over time that hasn't worked out too well. The fund significantly trails its large-cap blend peers and the S&P 500 over the past one-, three-, and five-year periods, according to Morningstar. Current skipper John Muresianu took the reins in January 1999 and has made some bold moves: Last year he raised the fund's tech-stock stake to more than 45%, only to bring it down to zero as of June 30. Those aggressive shifts might be intriguing, but they haven't really paid off. Over the past year, the fund was up 10.9%, trailing the S&P 500 by more than two percentage points and nearly 75% of its peers. So far this year, the fund is off 7.3%, which ranks nearly rock bottom among its peers, and trails the S&P 500 by more than nine percentage points. And the Adviser version won't be cheap, either. The Adviser version's Class A and Class T shares carry maximum 5.75% and 3.5% sales charges, while Class B shares carry a maximum 5% back-end load. Class C shares have a maximum 1% back-end load on shares sold within a year of purchase. The Adviser fund's expense ratios range from 1.75% to 2.5%, each of which is higher than the average large-cap blend fund's expenses. The current direct-sold version carries a 0.8% expense ratio, which is low compared with its average peer's 1.29%. See Monday's Fund Moves, Manager Changes.
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