Utility sector mutual funds: sources of performance and dividend policy implications

Abstract

We examine the sources of performance for a sample of mutual funds that invest primarily in utility companies. Given recent deregulation developments in the utility industry and the sub‐market performance of utility stocks in the 1990s, we hypothesize that utility funds may be considering alternatives to traditional high‐yielding electric utility stocks. Although there is anecdotal evidence that utility funds may be tilting their focus away from electric utility stocks, we find that utility mutual funds as a group are no more or less heavily invested in utility stocks today than they have been over the past 10 years.

Citation

O’Neal, E.S. and Page, D.E. (2002), "Utility sector mutual funds: sources of performance and dividend policy implications", Managerial Finance, Vol. 28 No. 12, pp. 14-24. https://doi.org/10.1108/03074350210768185