Having trouble finding a Mutual Fund Equity Report fund? Oppenheimer SteelPath MLP Income A (MLPDX) is a potential starting point. MLPDX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.
History of Fund/Manager
MLPDX is a part of the Invesco family of funds, a company based out of Kansas City, MO. Oppenheimer SteelPath MLP Income A made its debut in April of 2010, and since then, MLPDX has accumulated about $1.52 billion in assets, per the most up-to-date date available. Stuart Cartner is the fund's current manager and has held that role since April of 2010.
Performance
Obviously, what investors are looking for in these funds is strong performance relative to their peers. This fund has delivered a 5-year annualized total return of 6.69%, and is in the top third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 29.09%, which places it in the top 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 23.98% compared to the category average of 21.76%. The standard deviation of the fund over the past 5 years is 43.21% compared to the category average of 20.2%. 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 1.52, so it is likely going to be more volatile than 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. With a negative alpha of -1.48, managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.
Expenses
As competition heats up in the mutual fund market, costs become increasingly important. Compared to its otherwise identical counterpart, a low-cost product will be an outperformer, all other things being equal. Thus, taking a closer look at cost-related metrics is vital for investors. In terms of fees, MLPDX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 1.38% compared to the category average of 1.52%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, MLPDX is actually cheaper than its peers.