Any investors hoping to find a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund could think about starting with American Century Utilities Investor (BULIX Quick QuoteBULIX - Free Report) . BULIX has 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

BULIX is a part of the American Century family of funds, a company based out of Kansas City, MO. American Century Utilities Investor debuted in March of 1993. Since then, BULIX has accumulated assets of about $276.46 million, according to the most recently available information. Yulin Long is the fund's current manager and has held that role since December of 2010.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 5.15%, and is 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 1.84%, 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. BULIX's standard deviation over the past three years is 18.51% compared to the category average of 18.07%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 15.93% compared to the category average of 15.68%. 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 0.58, which means it 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. Over the past 5 years, the fund has a negative alpha of -0.7. This means 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 0.66% compared to the category average of 1.18%. From a cost perspective, BULIX is actually cheaper than its peers.

Investors need to be aware that with this product, the minimum initial investment is $2,500; each subsequent investment needs to be at least $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.

For additional information on this product, or to compare it to other mutual funds in the Mutual Fund Equity Report, make sure to go to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds 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.