Sep 30 2005
Top 10 Leading and Lagging Mutual Funds for Third Quarter
Fei Mei Chan, writing for the Forbes Fund Focus column, covers the mutual funds winners and losers for the thrid quarter of 2005 in this article from Forbes. Chan, an Associate Editor in Statistics, reports that foregin stock and foreign bond funds outperformed U.S. stock and bond funds, noting that, "On average, U.S. diversified equity funds returned only 3%, seven percentage points behind the world equity category, [while] ...domestic growth funds outpaced value and core offerings." The reporter cited the no-load T. Rowe Price Latin America Fund (PRLAX) as one of the best-performing overseas (Latin American) funds, and the no-load RS Global Natural Resources Fund (RSNRX) as one of the top performers in natural resources, which as a group, led by rising oil prices, "gained another 20% in the third quarter, contributing to a year-to-date return of 40%." Two tables detailing the top 10 winners and losers is also included in the article.
Sep 29 2005
Mutual Funds: Value vs. Growth
Meg Richards, writing for the Associated Press, offers some background information on growth and value stocks and mutual funds in this three-page article from ABC News. And, she reports that, "...Standard & Poor's is in the process of updating its style indexes, with plans to offer two different ways to track value and growth stocks, including one that seeks to more closely match the strategies used by fund portfolio managers."
Sep 28 2005
Three-Year Returns Escape Bear Market
Gregg Greenberg, TheStreet.com Staff Reporter, cautions mutual funds investors about relying too heavily on three-year fund returns now that the worst of the 2000-2002 market slump receeds beyond the three-year horizon. Greenberg notes that, "Over 2000-2002, the S&P 500 lost 9.7%, 11.8% and 21.5% in succession. In 2003 and 2004, though, the index turned around, returning 28.1% and 10.7%, respectively. This year the S&P 500 is up slightly, putting its three-year average return at a pleasant-looking 15.2%. The five-year average, on the other hand, is about negative 2%." Find more details in this article at TheStreet.com.
Sep 27 2005
Avoiding the Mutual Fund Tax Time-Bomb
Jeff Brown, business columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, reporting for Knight Ridder Newspapers, proposes a strategy to help mutual fund investors avoid taxes from end-of-year mutual fund distributions in this article from MarketWatch via MENAFN. Brown suggests, "Consider investing in exchange-traded funds, which generally don't carry those hidden tax time bombs, " adding " ...exchange-traded funds, or ETFs... are index-style funds that trade like stocks. Initially, they are attractive because many have extraordinarily low fees -- even lower than those of ordinary index funds. But at this time of year, they are appealing because most have only infinitesimal distributions, or none at all. Partly, that's because of the low turnover due to their index-investing style."
Sep 26 2005
Six Mutual Funds Worth Watching
Russel Kinnel of Morningstar.com, profiles six mutual funds the firm finds interesting, "Here’s a sampling of the most interesting funds that we’ve placed under analyst coverage recently." Spotlighted funds include: TrendStar Small Cap (TRESX), Schneider Value (SCMLX), Royce Value (RYVFX), Schwab YieldPlus (SWYPX), Nuveen NWQ International Value (NAIGX), and Constellation Sands Capital Select Growth (PTSGX). Details cn be found in this article from the Times Leader.
Sep 23 2005
Mutual funds: How one pro picks winners
Kathleen McKee, Senior Editor, interviews Eric Tyson, author of a syndicated newspaper column, Investors' Guide, and more than a dozen books, including Mutual Funds for Dummies, in this article from Medical Economics. Tyson explores the importance of a wide variety of factors to consider in selecting mutual funds, including: past performance, relative performance, risk-adjusted performance, mutual fund fees, fund families, annual reports, index funds, new mutual funds, media hype, and more.
Sep 22 2005
Jonathan Clements of The Wall Street Journal explores the index-fund-beating strategy of Robert Arnott, chairman of Research Affiliates in Pasadena, California, in this article from The Morning Call. Arnott says index funds invest too heavily in overvalued companies, and he believes a better strategy is to invest in companies based on the size of their business. "To that end, he advocates weighting stocks using ''fundamental'' yardsticks such as sales, cash flow, dividends and book value," reports Clements. According to the article, while this approach has outperformed traditional index fund investing over the longer term (by two percentage points a year over the past 43 years), there have been periods of significant underperformance, and there is also the matter of higher investment expenses of implementing the strategy.
Sep 21 2005
Two New Mutual Funds Using Hedge Fund Strategies
Yesterday, Rydex Investments announced the launch of two mutual funds that seek to offer hedge fund-like strategies and returns. The new funds -- Rydex Hedged Equity Fund and Rydex Absolute Return Strategies Fund -- are designed to give investors access to popular hedge fund-like strategies with the liquidity, transparency and lower-cost benefits of mutual fund investing. Rydex Hedged Equity Fund (RYSTX) seeks to provide capital appreciation consistent with the risks and returns of long/short hedge funds, and Rydex Absolute Return Strategy Fund (RYMSX) seeks returns similar to those produced by the hedge fund universe.
Sep 20 2005
Profile of Marsico Growth Fund
In response to a reader inquiry, Andrew Leckey, a Tribune Media Services columnist, profiles the no-load Marsico Growth Fund (MGRIX) in this article from Newsday. Leckey reports of the fund's recent performance, "...18 percent in the last 12 months to rank in the upper one-third of large growth funds. Its three-year annualized return of 14 percent puts it in the top one-fourth of its peers," and outlines portfolio manager Tom Marsico's background, investment strategies, and current holdings.
Sep 19 2005
Len Boselovic, staff writer, writes about the pitfalls of falling in love with poorly performing mutual funds in this article from the Post-Gazette. Using data provided by Lipper, a financial research firm, Boselovic identified 18 lagging funds, the three worst funds in six mutual fund categories, based on their performance for the 10-year period ended Aug. 31. He found that, "On average, they failed to break even over the 10 years. Still, investors have trusted the fund managers with $2.6 billion." Boselovic interviewed Tom Roseen, senior research analyst with Lipper, Russ Kinnel, director of fund research for Morningstar, Adam Bold, chief investment officer of the Mutual Fund Store, Paul Brahim, managing director of Equity Capital Management, and Fiduciary360 Chief Executive Officer Donald B. Trone to provide insight into investors' misplaced loyalty to these underperforming mutual funds.
Sep 16 2005
International Mutual Funds Outperform
Chet Currier, a Bloomberg News columnist, reports that, this year, through August, "292 international equity funds tracked by Bloomberg gained an average 6.6 percent, double the 3.3 percent gain posted by 929 U.S. stock funds," in this article from the Sun-Sentinel. And, he adds that "Five of the year's 12 best-selling U.S. funds through July, ...have been funds with an international bent. They include the Capital World Growth & Income Fund and the EuroPacific Growth Fund, both from Capital Group Cos.' American Funds group; Barclays Global Investors' Ishares exchange-traded fund of the Morgan Stanley Capital International EAFE stock index; the Dodge & Cox International Fund, and the Julius Baer International Equity Fund."
Sep 15 2005
With interest rates rising over the last 15 months, it's been a tough market environment for bond investors. Meg Richards, of the Associated Press, reports that Morningstar has spotlighted several fixed-income fund "managers with superior long-term track records who have posted outstanding results for the previous year and demonstrated strong commitment to their shareholders," in this three-page piece published at ABC News. According to Richards, "Morningstar's short list of top performers includes previous fixed income managers of the year Bill Gross of PIMCO Total Return (PTTRX), Dan Fuss of Loomis Sayles Bond (LSBRX) and the team at Western Asset Core Bond (WATFX)." Jeffrey Gundlach of TCW Galileo Total Return Bond (TGLMX), Mark Vaselkiv, of T. Rowe Price High-Yield (PRHYX) and the management team at Metropolitan West Total Return Bond (MWTRX) received honorable mentions.
Sep 14 2005
Three Fresh New Mutual Fund Ideas
Timothy Middleton, reports that "In recent weeks, I've come across three new portfolios that seem to offer something genuinely fresh to investors. One fits into the small-cap growth category, where the best funds tend to close quickly. Another takes a highly successful approach and makes it less risky. A third gives you entrée to managers whose flagship fund is closed. In each case, they come from successful and experienced managers." Middleton profiles the three funds, the TCM Small Cap Growth Fund (TCMSX), the Al Frank Dividend Value Fund (VALDX), and the Vanguard Primecap Core Fund (VPCCX), in this article from MSN Money.
Sep 13 2005
Bond Fund Investors' Challenge
Andrew Leckey, Tribune Media Services columnist, addresses the challenge for bond and bond fund investors in the face of rising interest rates. Leckey notes that "Short-term interest rates have notched up 10 times since June of last year, directed by the steady hand of the Federal Reserve." and adds "But longer-term rates have hardly budged at all. They're definitely overdue." Greg Habeeb, lead portfolio manager for Calvert Short Duration Income Fund, concurs, saying, "...stay away from long-maturity bonds, because it is just a matter of time before they are hit pretty substantially as long-term rates go up." Leckey also reports on the interest rate outlook from Mario DeRose, chief fixed-income strategist for Edward Jones, and spotlights five top-performing short-term taxable bond funds and five top short-term municipal bond funds leading in total return over the past 12 months in this piece in the Hartford Courant.
Sep 12 2005
Fund Managers' Outlook and Strategies
The managers of seven mutual funds -- each of which has been named a Lipper Leader for both Consistent Return and Total Return -- gathered to discuss their investment styles and offer personal perspectives on the current economic and market climate. They were joined by a senior analyst from Lipper who gave preliminary details of a soon-to-be released Lipper research report exploring the differences and similarities between sector-specific ETFs.
Sep 09 2005
Morningstar Analysts' Mutual Fund Picks
Ever wonder which funds the fund pickers pick? Well, here's an inside look at the mutual funds the Morningstar analysts are buying in this article by Kunal Kapoor from Jewish World Review. In general, Kapoor says, "...analysts were ... increasing exposure to large-cap funds — with an emphasis on growth in particular, cutting back on small-cap and real estate funds, and continuing to maintain or increase exposure to overseas funds. And there was even some interest in convertible funds." And, he spotlights nearly a dozen mutual funds selected by a half-dozen Morningstar analysts.
Sep 08 2005
Financial columnist, Warren Boroson, answers a reader's question, "Which are the best-performing mutual funds?" He cites seven top performing funds over the last 10 years, including Wasatch Micro Cap, Bridgeway Ultra Small Company, Bridgeway Aggressive Investors, Calamos Growth A, Alpine U.S. Real Estate Y, CGM Realty, and Meridian Value, and the three-year leader, Fidelity Leveraged Company Stock, as well as a couple of top performing fixed-income funds, and some of the worst performing mutual funds in this article from the Daily Record.
Sep 07 2005
Forbes 2005 Mutual Funds Honor Roll
William Heuslein and Megan Johnston reveal "The Ten Very Best Funds," The Honor Roll, in this article from Forbes' new 2005 Mutual Fund Survey. Calamos Growth Fund tops the list for the third straight year, and is followed by the Bruce Fund, the Muhlenkamp Fund, the Mairs & Power Growth Fund and the Keeley Small-Cap Value Fund among the top five. The Stratton Small-Cap Value Fund, the Third Avenue Value Fund, the Osterweis Fund, the Delafield Fund, and the Weitz Partners Value Fund complete the list. (Note: the Calamos Growth Fund and the Keeley Small-Cap Value Fund are load funds)
Sep 06 2005
First Rate, Second Tier, Fund Families
Eric Tyson, author of Investing for Dummies and Personal Finance for Dummies, covers some of the good but lesser-known mutual fund families (beyond Fidelity, Vanguard and T. Rowe Price), including: American Century, Artisan, Dodge & Cox, Harbor, Masters' Select (from Litman/Gregory), Harris Associates, TIAA-CREF, and USAA, in this personal finance article from the Houston Chronicle.
Sep 02 2005
Hot Real Estae Fund Focuses on Homebuilders
Manuel "Manny" Schiffres, a senior editor of Kiplinger's Personal Finance, interviews fund manager Sam Lieber whose Alpine U.S. Real Estate Equity fund has outperformed market averages for several years. According to Schiffres, over the past five years (to June 1), the no-load fund returned an annualized 34%. "That's an amazing 36 percentage points per year better than the ... Standard & Poor's 500-stock index," he said. Part of Lieber's success is attributed to his affinity for homebuilders vs REITS (real estate investment trusts) as found in other real estate funds. Sam Lieber, a 48-year-old former architecture student, is the son of Stephen Lieber, who founded the Evergreen funds.
Sep 01 2005
Exchange-Traded Funds Attracting Short Sellers
Ian McDonald of The Wall Street Journal reports that, "Scads of traders, hedge funds and other professional money managers are using exchange-traded mutual funds, or ETFs, to bet on a plunge by swaths of the stock or bond markets, or just slivers of one or the other," in this article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. McDonald added, "So-called short-selling activity in ETFs offers a peek at where many pros are most bearish -- these days it is small stocks, real estate and bonds."
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