Having trouble finding a Sector - Energy fund? Oppenheimer SteelPath MLP Income C (MLPRX) is a potential starting point. MLPRX bears a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on nine forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.

Objective

Zacks categorizes MLPRX as Sector - Energy, a segment packed with options. Sector - Energy mutual funds encompass a wide range of vastly changing and vitally important industries throughout this massive global sector. Oil and gas comprise the bulk of the exposure here, and carbon-based fuels are going to be the majority of assets in these funds. However, clean energy is starting to pick up steam.

History of Fund/Manager

MLPRX is a part of the Invesco family of funds, a company based out of Kansas City, MO. Since Oppenheimer SteelPath MLP Income C made its debut in May of 2011, MLPRX has garnered more than $549.62 million in assets. Stuart Cartner is the fund's current manager and has held that role since May of 2011.

Performance

Of course, investors look for strong performance in funds. MLPRX has a 5-year annualized total return of 0.31% and it sits in the top 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 3.04%, which places it in the top third during this time-frame.

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 MLPRX over the past three years is 53.52% compared to the category average of 23.14%. Over the past 5 years, the standard deviation of the fund is 42.17% compared to the category average of 17.2%. 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 2.1, which means it is hypothetically more 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. The fund has produced a negative alpha over the past 5 years of -23.03, which shows that 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, MLPRX is a no load fund. It has an expense ratio of 2.21% compared to the category average of 1.53%. Looking at the fund from a cost perspective, MLPRX is actually more expensive than its peers.

This fund requires a minimum initial investment of $1,000, and each subsequent investment should be at least $50.

Bottom Line

Overall, Oppenheimer SteelPath MLP Income C ( MLPRX ) has a high Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively strong performance, worse downside risk, and higher fees, Oppenheimer SteelPath MLP Income C ( MLPRX ) looks like a good potential choice for investors right now.

Don't stop here for your research on Sector - Energy 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 MLPRX 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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