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Is Victory Pioneer Core Equity A (PIOTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
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If you've been stuck searching for All Cap Value funds, you might want to consider passing on by Victory Pioneer Core Equity A (PIOTX - Free Report) as a possibility. PIOTX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
PIOTX is one of many All Cap Value funds to choose from. All Cap Value mutual funds buy stakes in companies in all three valuation categories: small, medium, and large-cap. However, they end up focusing on bigger firms due to percentage of assets. Most importantly, these funds look for key value characteristics, targeting stocks that boast low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and whose share prices do not reflect their worth.
History of Fund/Manager
PIOTX finds itself in the Victory family, based out of Columbus, OH. The Victory Pioneer Core Equity A made its debut in September of 1969 and PIOTX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.91 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Craig Sterling is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2015.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.25%, and is in the bottom 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 18.89%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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. PIOTX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.08% compared to the category average of 12.34%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.14% compared to the category average of 13.87%. 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 0.99, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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 -3.39. This means 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, PIOTX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.85% compared to the category average of 0.89%. So, PIOTX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Victory Pioneer Core Equity A ( PIOTX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Victory Pioneer Core Equity A ( PIOTX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the All Cap Value area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into PIOTX too for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.
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Is Victory Pioneer Core Equity A (PIOTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
If you've been stuck searching for All Cap Value funds, you might want to consider passing on by Victory Pioneer Core Equity A (PIOTX - Free Report) as a possibility. PIOTX possesses a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
PIOTX is one of many All Cap Value funds to choose from. All Cap Value mutual funds buy stakes in companies in all three valuation categories: small, medium, and large-cap. However, they end up focusing on bigger firms due to percentage of assets. Most importantly, these funds look for key value characteristics, targeting stocks that boast low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and whose share prices do not reflect their worth.
History of Fund/Manager
PIOTX finds itself in the Victory family, based out of Columbus, OH. The Victory Pioneer Core Equity A made its debut in September of 1969 and PIOTX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.91 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Craig Sterling is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2015.
Performance
Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 12.25%, and is in the bottom 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 18.89%, which places it in the bottom third during this time-frame.
It is important to note that the product's returns may not reflect all its expenses. Any fees not reflected would lower the returns. Total returns do not reflect the fund's [%] sale charge. If sales charges were included, total returns would have been lower.
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. PIOTX's standard deviation over the past three years is 14.08% compared to the category average of 12.34%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 16.14% compared to the category average of 13.87%. 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 0.99, so it is likely going to be as volatile as the market at large. 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 -3.39. This means 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, PIOTX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.85% compared to the category average of 0.89%. So, PIOTX is actually cheaper than its peers from a cost perspective.
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.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into consideration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, Victory Pioneer Core Equity A ( PIOTX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, Victory Pioneer Core Equity A ( PIOTX ) looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.
For additional information on the All Cap Value area of the mutual fund world, make sure to check out www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds. There, you can see more about the ranking process, and dive even deeper into PIOTX too for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.