Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Cohen & Steers Realty Shares L (CSRSX Quick QuoteCSRSX - Free Report) is a potential starting point. CSRSX bears 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

Cohen & Steers is based in New York, NY, and is the manager of CSRSX. Cohen & Steers Realty Shares L made its debut in July of 1991, and since then, CSRSX has accumulated about $3.83 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund's current manager is a team of investment professionals.

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 6.9%, and is in the top third among its category peers. If you're interested in shorter time frames, do not dismiss looking at the fund's 3-year annualized total return of 3.34%, 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. Compared to the category average of 18.1%, the standard deviation of CSRSX over the past three years is 21.75%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund's standard deviation is 18.93% compared to the category average of 15.74%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.

Risk Factors

Investors should note that the fund has a 5-year beta of 0.82, which means it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -1.7, which shows that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.

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, CSRSX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.88% compared to the category average of 1.20%. So, CSRSX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.

Investors should also note that the minimum initial investment for the product is $10,000 and that each subsequent investment has no minimum amount.

Bottom Line

Overall, Cohen & Steers Realty Shares L ( CSRSX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

This could just be the start of your research on CSRSXin 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. Want to learn even more? We have a full suite of tools on stocks that you can use to find the best choices for your portfolio too, no matter what kind of investor you are.