Fidelity Opens Medical Equipment Fund

Fidelity Investments introduced a mutual fund that will invest in shares of medical equipment companies. The Fidelity Select Medical Equipment and Systems Portfolio is the 39th so-called select fund offered by the biggest U.S. fund company. It will be managed by Kerry Nelson, 28, who joined Boston-based Fidelity in 1995 as an equity analyst. The new Fidelity fund will invest in companies that engage in research and development, manufacturing and sales of medical equipment devices and related technologies. Standard & Poor’s medical products index, which includes Medtronic Inc. and Baxter International Inc., rose 45.4% in the last year, exceeding the 40.2% gain of Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Fidelity’s select funds group had combined assets under management of about $16 billion at the end of 1997.