Is Victory Pioneer Core Equity A (PIOTX) a Strong Mutual Fund Pick Right Now?

If you've been stuck searching for All Cap Value funds, you might want to consider passing on by Victory Pioneer Core Equity A (PIOTX) as a possibility. PIOTX holds a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank of 5 (Strong Sell), which is based on various forecasting factors like size, cost, and past performance.ObjectiveWe classify PIOTX in the All Cap Value category, an area rife with potential choices. Like the name suggests, MUTUAL FUNDS invest in small, medium, and large-cap companies, though they end up focusing on bigger firms due to percentage of assets. These funds look for key value characteristics, targeting stocks that boast low P/E ratios, high dividend yields, and whose share prices do not reflect their worth.History of Fund/ManagerPIOTX is a part of the Amundi US family of funds, a company based out of Boston, MA. The Victory Pioneer Core Equity A made its debut in September of 1969 and PIOTX has managed to accumulate roughly $1.73 billion in assets, as of the most recently available information. The fund's current manager, Craig Sterling, has been in charge of the fund since May of 2015.PerformanceInvestors naturally seek funds with strong performance. This fund carries a 5-year annualized total return of 15.1%, and is in the bottom third among its category peers. Investors who prefer analyzing shorter time frames should look at its 3-year annualized total return of 3.8%, which places it in the bottom 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 PIOTX over the past three years is 17.55% compared to the category average of 14.66%. The fund's standard deviation over the past 5 years is 17.04% compared to the category average of 15.67%. This makes the fund more volatile than its peers over the past half-decade.Risk FactorsInvestors should not forget about beta, an important way to measure a mutual fund's risk compared to the market as a whole. PIOTX has a 5-year beta of 0.98, which means it is likely to be as volatile as the market average. 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. PIOTX has generated a negative alpha over the past five years of -2.6, demonstrating that managers in this portfolio find it difficult to pick securities that generate better-than-benchmark returns.ExpensesAs 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, PIOTX is a load fund. It has an expense ratio of 0.86% compared to the category average of 0.91%. From a cost perspective, PIOTX is actually cheaper than its peers.While the minimum initial investment for the product is $1,000, investors should also note that each subsequent investment needs to be at least $100.Fees charged by investment advisors have not been taken into considiration. Returns would be less if those were included.Bottom LineOverall, Victory Pioneer Core Equity A ( PIOTX ) has a low Zacks Mutual Fund rank, and in conjunction with its comparatively weak performance, average downside risk, and lower fees, this fund looks like a somewhat weak choice for investors right now.Your research on the All Cap Value segment doesn't have to stop here. You can check out all the great mutual fund tools we have to offer by going to www.zacks.com/funds/mutual-funds to see the additional features we offer as well for additional information. If you want to check out our stock reports as well, make sure to go to Zacks.com to see all of the great tools we have to offer, including our time-tested Zacks Rank.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Get Your Free (PIOTX): Fund Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks