Franklin Utilities AdvFRUAX

Franklin Utilities has impressed lately.

The approach plied at this venerable offering by veteran manager John Kohli served investors well in a brutal 2008 through the first quarter of 2009, illustrating its defensive capabilities. In fact, over the trailing 12-month period ended Aug.  Read more 

Most of its utilities fund rivals have put assets to work in telecommunications and energy names, but this half-century-old fund has resolutely stuck to electric utilities. The fund's managers tend to hold on to their picks--generally the biggest firms in the electric-utilities industry--for the long haul.  Read more 

John Kohli, who joined the fund in 1998, calls the shots here. Kohli also contributes to conservative-allocation standout Franklin Income FKINX, which shares this fund's emphasis on yield. Matt Smith, who has comanaged this fund since 2004, recently stepped down.  Read more 

This fund follows an old-school style and thus may not be for everyone. Although most utilities funds have exposure to an array of utilities subsectors, this one sticks primarily to electric utilities in the United States.  Read more