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Is Pioneer Core Equity Fund A (PIOTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

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Have you been searching for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You might want to begin with Pioneer Core Equity Fund A (PIOTX - Free Report) . PIOTX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

History of Fund/Manager

Amundi US is based in Boston, MA, and is the manager of PIOTX. Pioneer Core Equity Fund A made its debut in September of 1969, and since then, PIOTX has accumulated about $1.72 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Craig Sterling who has been in charge of the fund since May of 2015.

Performance

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 8.81%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. But if you are looking for a shorter time frame, it is also worth looking at its 3-year annualized total return of 10.37%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

When looking at a fund's performance, it is also important to note the standard deviation of the returns. The lower the standard deviation, the less volatility the fund experiences. The standard deviation of PIOTX over the past three years is 21.37% compared to the category average of 17.93%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 18.91% compared to the category average of 15.73%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. PIOTX has a 5-year beta of 0.99, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. Because alpha represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which is the S&P 500 in this case, one should pay attention to this metric as well. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.56. This means that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Holdings

Investigating the equity holdings of a mutual fund is also a valuable exercise. This can show us how the manager is applying their stated methodology, as well as if there are any inherent biases in their approach. For this particular fund, the focus is largely on equities that are traded in the United States.

Currently, this mutual fund is holding 98.17% stock in stocks, which have an average market capitalization of $152.88 billion. The fund has the heaviest exposure to the following market sectors:

  • Technology
  • Finance
  • Non-Durable
  • Industrial Cyclical
Turnover is about 70%, so those in charge of the fund make more trades per year than the comparable average.

Expenses

Costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing, and particularly as competition heats up in this market. And all things being equal, a lower cost product will outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, so taking a closer look at these metrics is key for investors. In terms of fees, PIOTX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.85% compared to the category average of 1.08%. From a cost perspective, PIOTX is actually cheaper than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $100.

Bottom Line

Overall, Pioneer Core Equity Fund A ( PIOTX ) has a neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively similar performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Pioneer Core Equity Fund A ( PIOTX ) looks like a somewhat average choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Mutual Fund Equity Report funds. We also have plenty more on our site in order to help you find the best possible fund for your portfolio. Make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for more information about the world of funds, and feel free to compare PIOTX to its peers as well for additional information. For analysis of the rest of your portfolio, make sure to visit Zacks.com for our full suite of tools which will help you investigate all of your stocks and funds in one place.


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