Looking for a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? You may want to consider American Century Utilities Investor (BULIX Quick QuoteBULIX - Free Report) as a possible option. BULIX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 3 (Hold), 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 $329.57 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

Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 5.69%, and it sits in the bottom 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 5.33%, which places it in the bottom 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 17.51% compared to the category average of 17.21%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 14.77% compared to the category average of 14.66%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

With a 5-year beta of 0.54, the fund is likely to be less volatile than the market average. Another factor to consider is alpha, as it reflects a portfolio's performance on a risk-adjusted basis relative to a benchmark-in this case, the S&P 500. BULIX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -0.81, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

Expenses

For investors, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is key, since costs are increasingly important for mutual fund investing. Competition is heating up in this space, and a lower cost product will likely outperform its otherwise identical counterpart, all things being equal. In terms of fees, BULIX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.65% compared to the category average of 1.22%. BULIX is actually cheaper than its peers when you consider factors like cost.

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 neutral Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Century Utilities Investor ( BULIX ) 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 BULIX 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.