If you have been looking for Sector – Energy funds, a place to start could be T. Rowe Price New Era (PRNEX). PRNEX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
PRNEX is one of many Sector – Energy funds to choose from. Sector – Energy mutual funds are comprised of various changing and hugely important industries throughout the massive global energy sector. Even though clean energy is beginning to pick up steam, oil and gas companies have the highest exposure, but carbon-based fuels will be the biggest group of assets in these funds.
T. Rowe Price is based in Baltimore, MD, and is the manager of PRNEX. T. Rowe Price New Era made its debut in January of 1969, and since then, PRNEX has accumulated about $951.00 million in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. The fund is currently managed by Shinwoo Kim who has been in charge of the fund since June of 2021.
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund in particular has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 13.82%, and it sits in the middle third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 15%, which places it in the middle 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. Compared to the category average of 14.07%, the standard deviation of PRNEX over the past three years is 15.49%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 17.55% compared to the category average of 16.56%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.
With a 5-year beta of 0.76, 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. With a positive alpha of 2.78, managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.