There are plenty of choices in the Sector – Energy category, but where should you start your research? Well, one fund that might be worth investigating is Invesco SteelPath MLP Income A (MLPDX). MLPDX carries a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
Objective
We classify MLPDX in the Sector – Energy category, an area that is rife with possible choices. Throughout the massive global energy sector, Sector – Energy mutual funds hold a wide range of quickly changing and vitally important industries. While oil and gas comprise the bulk of the exposure, carbon-based fuels will be the biggest group of assets in these funds, though clean energy is starting to pick up steam.
History of Fund/Manager
Invesco is based in Kansas City, MO, and is the manager of MLPDX. The Invesco SteelPath MLP Income A made its debut in April of 2010 and MLPDX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.92 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. Stuart Cartner is the fund’s current manager and has held that role since April of 2010.
Performance
Investors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 23.95%, and it sits in the middle 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 17.37%, 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. The standard deviation of MLPDX over the past three years is 12.5% compared to the category average of 11.84%. Looking at the past 5 years, the fund’s standard deviation is 16.66% compared to the category average of 13.68%. 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 0.54, 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 positive alpha over the past 5 years of 14.46, which shows that managers in this portfolio are skilled in picking securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.