Should You Invest in the Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF (FSTA)?

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market, the Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF (FSTA) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 10/21/2013.

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they 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. Consumer Staples - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 13, placing it in bottom 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Fidelity. It has amassed assets over $1.38 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Staples - Broad segment of the equity market. FSTA seeks to match the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Consumer Staples Index before fees and expenses.

The MSCI USA IMI Consumer Staples Index represents the performance of the consumer staples sector in the U.S. equity market.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining 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 2.13%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Staples sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Costco Wholesale Corp Common Stock Usd.005 (COST) accounts for about 12.89% of total assets, followed by Walmart Inc Common Stock Usd.1 (WMT) and Procter + Gamble Co/the Common Stock (PG).

The top 10 holdings account for about 63.47% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF has added roughly 5.86% so far, and is up about 10.77% over the last 12 months (as of 05/28/2025). FSTA has traded between $47.12 and $52.85 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.60 and standard deviation of 12.77% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 105 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, FSTA is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Staples 25/50 Index and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLP) tracks Consumer Staples Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF has $7.61 billion in assets, Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF has $16.55 billion. VDC has an expense ratio of 0.09% and XLP charges 0.08%.

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

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