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Is American Century Utilities Investor (BULIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is American Century Utilities Investor (BULIX - Free Report) . BULIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of BULIX. American Century Utilities Investor made its debut in March of 1993, and since then, BULIX has accumulated about $314.85 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Yulin Long, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2010.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.65%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.16%, 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 BULIX over the past three years is 16.06% compared to the category average of 15.7%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.66% compared to the category average of 13.55%. 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. BULIX has a 5-year beta of 0.53, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. With a negative alpha of -3.09, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, BULIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.66% compared to the category average of 1.21%. So, BULIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Utilities Investor ( BULIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Century Utilities Investor ( BULIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on BULIXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.
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Is American Century Utilities Investor (BULIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Mutual Fund Equity Report category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is American Century Utilities Investor (BULIX - Free Report) . BULIX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of BULIX. American Century Utilities Investor made its debut in March of 1993, and since then, BULIX has accumulated about $314.85 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager, Yulin Long, has been in charge of the fund since December of 2010.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 4.65%, and it sits in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 5.16%, 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 BULIX over the past three years is 16.06% compared to the category average of 15.7%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 13.66% compared to the category average of 13.55%. 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. BULIX has a 5-year beta of 0.53, which means it is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Alpha is an additional metric to take into consideration, since it represents a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark, which in this case, is the S&P 500. With a negative alpha of -3.09, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, BULIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.66% compared to the category average of 1.21%. So, BULIX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $2,500 and that each subsequent investment needs to be at $50.
Bottom Line
Overall, American Century Utilities Investor ( BULIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Century Utilities Investor ( BULIX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.
This could just be the start of your research on BULIXin the Mutual Fund Equity Report category. Consider going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds for additional information about this fund, and all the others that we rank as well for additional information. Zacks provides a full suite of tools to help you analyze your portfolio - both funds and stocks - in the most efficient way possible.