This Fidelity Fund Rolls Along With The Auto Industry

Automaker stocks were on the move Tuesday, December 2 on the news of November vehicle sales.

General Motors Company GM and Chrysler Group LLC notched outstanding November sales numbers in the U.S., while Ford Motor Company F posted a year-over-year decline.

Ford's sales drop was largely due to inventory management issues on its Mustang and popular F-150 models. The automaker had high points, however: Sport Utility Vehicles posted year-over-year sales gains.

GM, meanwhile, saw healthy sales growth for its Silverado pickup, Cruze compacts and for its GMC brand, overall.

Both Ford and GM are S&P 500 components, meaning they are, by necessity, included in any mutual fund or ETF that tracks that index. As large-cap U.S. stocks, they also fit the bill for numerous other funds tracking that asset class.

Vanguard Total Stock

The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares VTSMX, which tracks the MSCI U.S. Broad Market Index, holds 1.64 percent of Ford shares and 1.33 percent of GM shares.

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Fidelity Select Automotive

The Fidelity Select Automotive Portfolio FSAVX is exactly what the name implies: the actively managed fund seeks to invest at least 80 percent of total assets in stocks of companies that manufacture or sell cars, trucks, specialty vehicles, automotive parts or automotive-related services.

A more specialized fund like this carries extra risk over a wider sector fund. That's because there are no other sub-sectors in the fund to dampen risk, should a particular industry go through a prolonged slump.

Top holdings in the Fidelity Select Automotive Portfolio are:

• Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) TM
• Ford
• Tenneco Inc TEN
• Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) HMC
• Delphi Automotive PLC DLPH

Ford shares account for 12.97 percent of fund assets, while GM accounts for 2.72 percent. The fund has posted a year-to-date loss of 0.4 percent.