Year to Date Top Performer Mutual Funds May 2012

The following year to date top performer mutual funds are Forward International Real Estate fund, Fairholme fund, Nile Pan Africa fund, etc. These mutual funds have managed to achieve great return up until May 6th, 2012.

Intro

Mutual Funds are one of the most popular investment funds in the world. Investors can choose mutual funds to diversify their portfolio into many different sectors such as stocks, bonds, convertible, preferred, money market, etc.

From this top performers list, you may observe stock mutual funds have outperformed bond mutual funds. These stock funds can be divided into two main classes such as U.S. domestic stock fund and International stock funds. Most of the international stock funds have managed to achieve higher return for the first half of the year especially the emerging markets stock funds.

On the domestic stock front, growth stock fund has been the top performer fund. Another top performer sectors are: global real estate, technology, health, etc.  More details about best performing funds can be found below.

Year to Date Top Performer Mutual Funds of May 2012 are:

1. Forward International Real Estate A (KIRAX)
2. Fairholme (FAIRX)
3. Nile Pan Africa A (NAFAX)
4. Berkshire Focus (BFOCX)
5. Biondo Focus Investor (BFONX)
6. EP Asia Small Companies A (EPASX)
7. Mirae Asset Asia Great Consumer A (MGCEX)
8. Fidelity Select Retailing (FSRPX)
9. Dynamic US Growth I (DWUGX)
10. Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A (FKASX)

1. Forward International Real Estate A (KIRAX)

This Forward International Real Estate fund objective is to provide total return from capital appreciation and income. It invests majority of assets in non-U.S. stocks of real estate companies. It may invest in U.S. real estate companies. The lead manager is Joel S. Beam.

This Global Real Estate fund has a yield of 9.51%. The expense ratio is 1.65%. Its sales load is 5.75%. The minimum initial investment is $4,000. The portfolio turnover rate is 309%. This turnover rate is considered high. The current net assets are $47 million.

This top performer mutual fund is ranked with 3 stars. The year to date return is 31.8%. It has returned 21.46% over the past 3 year, and -5.16% over the past 5 year.

The top 5 stocks are CSI Properties Ltd, Soundwill Holdings Ltd, Kenedix Realty Inv, Westfield Retail Trust, and Hammerson PLC. The top 2 sectors are real estate (70.19%), and financial services (25.70%).

2. Fairholme (Ticker: FAIRX)

The Fairholme fund is managed by Bruce R. Berkowitz. This large value mutual fund may invest in a focused portfolio of stocks and bonds. It is considered as non-diversified mutual fund. The fund yield is 0%. There is no sales load. It has 1.01% expense ratio.

more: YTD Top Performer ETFs May 2012

It has one of the worst total returns in 2011 with -32.42%. Based on load adjusted returns, the fund has return 20.87% over the past 3 year, 9.03% over the past decade. It is rated with 4 stars rating by Morningstar.

As of March 2012, the top 5 stocks in its assets are American International Group (AIG), AIA Group Ltd, Sears Holdings Corporation, CIT Group Inc, and Bank of America Corp. The top 3 sectors include financial services (76.6%), consumer cyclical (13.73%), and real estate (4.93%).

3. Nile Pan Africa A (NAFAX)

As part of diversified emerging markets mutual fund, this Nile Pan Africa fund utilizes its assets to purchase stocks of African companies and bonds issued by African governments. It has a high expense ratio of 2.50%. The front end sales load is 5.75%. It is managed by Larry Seruma since 2010.

Best Emerging Markets Stock Mutual Funds 2012

The fund YTD return is 27.6%. It is open to new investors. The minimum initial investment is $1,000. Its annual holding turnover rate is 102%. The top 4 stocks in its portfolio are African Minerals Ltd, Cove Energy PLC, Afren PLC, and Sasol Ltd ADR.

4. Berkshire Focus (BFOCX)

The Berkshire Focus fund is part of technology sector mutual fund. It focusses its investment in companies of any size that operates in the electronic technology industry. It may invest in foreign companies and exchange traded funds. It has $47 million of total net assets. There is no sales load. Its expense ratio is 2%. The 3-year beta is 0.94.

This top performer stock fund is managed by Malcolm R Fobes III. The top 5 stocks in its portfolio are Apple Inc, Google Inc, Priceline.com Inc, CommVault Systems Inc, and Starbucks Corporation. Investor can buy this fund with initial funding of $5,000 for regular brokerage account. Some brokerages which offer this mutual fund are Schwab, E*Trade, Fidelity Retail FundsNetwork NTF, SunGard Transaction Network, Firstrade, etc.

5. Biondo Focus Investor (BFONX)

This Biondo Focus fund uses its assets to buy long and short positions in US companies stocks, foreign companies stocks (ADR), investment grade bond, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and options. The portfolio managers are Joseph R. Biondo and Joseph P. Biondo.

Top Mutual Funds for 2012

As large growth fund, this Biondo Focus fund has $21.8 million of total net assets. The annual holdings turnover rate is 75%. It is open to new investor.

10. Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A (FKASX)

The Federated Kaufmann Small Cap fund is ranked 2 stars by Morningstar. The minimum initial investment is $1,500. The total net assets are $1.0 billion. It has a sales load of 5.5%. The expense ratio is 1.95% per year.

This small growth mutual fund has a year-to-date return of 21.55%.

Disclosure: No Position

Fund Information

No	Fund Description	Ticker	Type	Rating	YTD Return %	Expense Ratio	Total Assets (Mil)
1	Forward International Real Estate	KIRAX	Global Real Estate	3	31.8	1.65	49
2	Fairholme	FAIRX	Large Value	4	28.25	1.01	7993
3	Nile Pan Africa A	NAFAX	Diversified Emergin	-	27.6	2.5	15
4	Berkshire Focus	BFOCX	Technology	4	27.08	2	46
5	Biondo Focus Investor	BFONX	Large Growth	-	26.8	2.34	21
6	EP Asia Small Companies A	EPASX	Pacific/Asia ex-Jap	-	24.94	1.75	29
7	Mirae Asset Asia Great Consumer A	MGCEX	Pacific/Asia ex-Jap	-	23.06	1.8	15
8	Fidelity Select Retailing	FSRPX	Consumer Cyclical	4	22.76	0.88	525
9	Dynamic US Growth I	DWUGX	Large Growth	5	21.69	0.95	48
10	Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A	FKASX	Small Growth	2	21.55	1.95	1026
11	Henderson Emerging Market Opps A	HEMAX	Diversified Emergin	-	21.38	1.79	19
12	Hennessy Cornerstone Growth	HFCGX	Mid-Cap Blend	1	21.25	1.33	208
13	Alpine Emerging Markets Real Estate A	AEAMX	Global Real Estate	2	20.74	--	4
14	Touchstone Sands Capital Select Growth A	TSNAX	Large Growth	5	20.43	1.45	2686
15	Tilson Focus	TILFX	Mid-Cap Value	2	20.41	1.67	16
16	Matthew 25	MXXVX	Large Growth	4	20.31	1.22	119
17	Mirae Asset GEM Great Consumer A	MECGX	Diversified Emergin	-	20.18	1.85	17
18	Fidelity Select Computers	FDCPX	Technology	4	20.06	0.85	847
19	Wasatch Emerging Markets	WAEMX	Diversified Emergin	5	19.91	1.96	1287
20	Rydex Biotechnology Inv	RYOIX	Health	4	19.89	1.39	160