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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 Sector - Utilities 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 carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify BULIX in the Sector - Utilities category, an area that is rife with possible choices. Sector - Utilities funds focus their investments on firms that provide essential daily services to millions of people like electric power, gas distribution, and water supply. All in all, the utility industry is a perfect fit for those investors looking for stability and low volatility.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of BULIX. The American Century Utilities Investor made its debut in March of 1993 and BULIX has managed to accumulate roughly $226.64 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. BULIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 1.79% 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 2.1%, 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. The standard deviation of BULIX over the past three years is 17.4% compared to the category average of 16.81%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.63% compared to the category average of 16.23%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.63, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. BULIX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -7.06, which means 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 0.95%. From a cost perspective, BULIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Century Utilities Investor ( BULIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Utilities 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.
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Is American Century Utilities Investor (BULIX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?
There are plenty of choices in the Sector - Utilities 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 carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify BULIX in the Sector - Utilities category, an area that is rife with possible choices. Sector - Utilities funds focus their investments on firms that provide essential daily services to millions of people like electric power, gas distribution, and water supply. All in all, the utility industry is a perfect fit for those investors looking for stability and low volatility.
History of Fund/Manager
American Century is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of BULIX. The American Century Utilities Investor made its debut in March of 1993 and BULIX has managed to accumulate roughly $226.64 million in assets, as of the most recently available information. A team of investment professionals is the fund's current manager.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. BULIX has a 5-year annualized total return of 1.79% 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 2.1%, 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. The standard deviation of BULIX over the past three years is 17.4% compared to the category average of 16.81%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 16.63% compared to the category average of 16.23%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
Risk Factors
The fund has a 5-year beta of 0.63, so investors should note that it is hypothetically less volatile than the market at large. 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. BULIX's 5-year performance has produced a negative alpha of -7.06, which means 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 0.95%. From a cost perspective, BULIX is actually cheaper than its peers.
This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $2,500, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.
Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.
Bottom Line
Overall, even with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, American Century Utilities Investor ( BULIX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and therefore looks a great potential choice for investors right now.
Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Utilities 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.