Maura Shaughnessy has seen plenty of ups and downs during her quarter-century tenure at the helm of MFS Utilities (symbol MMUFX). Now, after a few years of so-so results, her fund is again among the leaders in its group.
Shaughnessy invests mostly in bargain-priced electricity, natural gas and water utilities, holding a mix of high-yielding stocks and stocks that pay less but, she expects, will deliver robust share-price gains. She also holds firms that tend to be underrepresented in utilities funds. MFS has nearly 20% of its assets in energy stocks—mostly master limited partnerships—and 15% in cable-TV operators, such as Comcast, and telecommunications companies.
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