ETF Evaluator: Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF (FSTA) Follow This ETF

Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF Overview

Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF (FSTA) is a passively managed Sector Equity Consumer Defensive exchange-traded fund (ETF). Fidelity Investments launched the ETF in 2013.

The investment seeks to provide investment returns that correspond, before fees and expenses, generally to the performance of the MSCI USA IMI Consumer Staples 25/50 Index. The fund invests at least 80% of assets in securities included in the fund's underlying index. The fund's underlying index is the MSCI USA IMI Consumer Staples 25/50 Index, which represents the performance of the consumer staples sector in the U.S. equity market. It may or may not hold all of the securities in the MSCI USA IMI Consumer Staples 25/50 Index. The fund is non-diversified.

About Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF (FSTA)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.32 years: Jennifer Hsui (2013), Peter Sietsema (2023), Matt Waldron (2025) and Steven White (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100% and MSCI USA IMI/CONS STAPLES 25-50 GR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF has 98 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 62.0% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Sector Equity ETF group. Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 99.9% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF has 0.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $1 billion in total assets, which is below the $1 billion average for the Consumer Defensive category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

FSTA Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF expense ratio is low compared to funds in the Consumer Defensive category. Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF has an expense ratio of 0.08%, which is 78% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 13%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 19% for the Consumer Defensive category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF returned 1.4%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Consumer Defensive category had an average return of 1.9%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF has a trailing yield of 2.21%, which is above the 2.16% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 8.1%, 0.3 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 5.1% over the past year (grade of C), 7.5% over the past three years (grade of B) and 6.8% per year over the past five years (grade of A) and 7.4% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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