January 9, 2013

Franklin Utilities Fund (FKUTX)

Franklin Utilities Fund (Ticker: FKUTX) is a U.S. domestic stock mutual fund. This equity sector fund focuses its investment in public utilities companies.

Franklin Utilities Fund (MUTF: FKUTX)

The investment objective of Franklin Utilities Fund is to seek capital appreciation and current income. The mutual fund typically invests >80% of its net assets in the securities of public utilities companies. These are companies that provide electricity, natural gas, water and communications services to the public and companies that provide services to public utilities companies. It may concentrate in companies operating in the utilities industry, especially their common stocks.

Fund Details
  • Fund Inception Date: 09/30/1948
  • Ticker Symbol: FKUTX
  • CUSIP: 353496409
  • Beta (3yr): 0.32
  • Rank in category (YTD): 39%
  • Category: Utilities
  • Distribution: 3.22%
  • Capital Gains: 0%
  • Expense Ratio: 0.76%
  • Net Assets: $ 4.51 billion
  • Number of Years Up: 47 years
  • Number of Years Down: 16 years
  • Annual Turnover Rate: 5.21%
Updated on 1/9/2013

This best utilities mutual fund was first introduced to public market in September 1948. The vice president of Advisers, John Kohli, has managed it since December 1998. This fund has annual expense ratio of 0.76%, which is lower than the category average which is 1.27%. The total net assets are $4.51 billion.

Top 10 Utilities Mutual Funds 2012

This domestic equity fund has an annual holdings turnover of 5.21%. It is low compared to the average in the category (84.80%). The management fee is 0.15% and the front-end sales load fee is 4.25%. The dividends are distributed quarterly in March, June, September and December.

The YTD of this Franklin fund is 9.06%. It is rated with 4-stars and Gold rating by Morningstar. The best 1-year total return was recorded in 2000 with 41.61%. Since its inception 64 years ago, it has recorded in 47 years of positive return and 16 years of negative return. Based on the load adjusted return, the performance of this fund is as below:
  • 1-year: 8.80%
  • 3-year: 13.83%
  • 5-year: 2.56%
  • 10-year: 10.82%
Investors, who are interested in this fund, can choose to open a brokerage account with minimum initial investment of $1,000 and $250 for retirement (IRA) account. There is no minimum subsequent investment needed. Class C (FRUSX) of this fund has 1% contingent differed sales charge (CDSC) in the first year. The other two classes are Class R (FRURX) and Advisor Class (FRUAX). There are 118 brokerages that provide the sales of this fund, such as JP Morgan, Vanguard, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, Schwab Retail, Morgan Stanley Advisors, etc.

As of the third quarter of 2012, this fund has 55 total holdings. The top 10 stock holdings are Duke Energy Corp (4.88%), Edison International (4.86%), Southern Co (4.08%), American Electric Power Co Inc (3.99%), NextEra Energy Inc (3.90%), Exelon Corp (3.77%), Sempra Energy (3.71%), PG&E Corp (3.40%), First Energy Corp (2.74%) and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc (2.71%). The top portfolio breakdowns are Electric Utilities (52.04%) and Multi-Utilities (29.43%). 

According to the fund’s website, investing in this fund involve risks. The principal investing risks are Utilities Industry Risk, Market Risk, Concentration Risk, Management Risk, Interest Rate Risk, Income Risk, Foreign Securities Risk, etc.

Disclosure: No Position

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