American Funds AMCAP A (AMCPX) Fund

As one of the largest mutual funds family, American Funds provide wide selection of mutual funds. One of the top rated and popular mutual funds is American Funds AMCAP A fund. This fund is part of large growth US stock mutual fund. It invests in US companies with great growth potential. More fund review can be found below.

American Funds AMCAP A (AMCPX)

The investment objective of this American Funds AMCAP fund is to achieve long-term capital growth. This fund utilizes its assets to purchase U.S. companies common stocks with solid long-term growth records and the potential for good future growth. This fund uses a team of fund advisors to manage its assets.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: May 1, 1967
• Ticker Symbol: AMCPX
• CUSIP: 023375108
• Beta (3yr): 1.06
• Rank in category (YTD): 79%
• Category: Large Growth
• Distribution Rate: 0.35%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.73%  
• Net Assets: $ 24.18 billion
• Number of Years Up: 34 years
• Number of Years Down: 10 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 28%

Updated on 6/17/2012

Timothy D. Armour has been managing this top fund since May 1996. It has total net assets of $24.18 billion. The 12-month dividend yield is 0.35% and it is paid in June and December every year. It has been in the market since 1967. The annual expense ratio of this American Funds fund is 0.73%. The average in the Large Growth category is 1.28%.

American Funds AMCAP

This large growth US stock mutual fund has been rated with 4-stars rating by Morningstar. It also receives a Gold rating from Morningstar analysts. The YTD return of this fund is 10.36%. The fund has recorded 34 years in positive return and 10 years in negative return. Based on the load adjusted return, this best performer growth stock fund has returned 4.64% over the past 10-year and 24.19% over the past 3-year. The best 1-year total return was in 2009 with 39.12%. The worst 1-year total return was in 2008 with -37.68%.

You can make first purchase with a minimum of $250 with your brokerage account or retirement / IRA account. The minimum next purchase needed is $50. This AMCPX fund can be purchased from 79 brokerages. They are E Trade Financial, Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, Schwab Retail, Fidelity Retail Funds Network, TD Ameritrade Inc, Scottrade Load, Ameriprise Brokerage, etc. There are lots of other classes available for this fund, such as:

• Class B: AMPBX
• Class C: AMPCX
• Class F-1: AMPFX
• Class F-2: AMCFX
• Class 529-A: CAFAX
• Class 529-B: CAFBX
• Class 529-C: CAFCX
• Class 529-E: CAFEX
• Class 529-F-1: CAFFFX

Fund Composition

As of January 2011, the largest industry holdings are Media (7.1%), Biotechnology (6.8%), Software (6.4%), Health Care Equipment & Supplies (4.9%), Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels (4.7%), Computers & Peripherals (4.1%), Aerospace & Defense (3.3%), Commercial Banks (3.1%), Pharmaceuticals (3.0%) and Chemicals (2.7%).

The largest 10 stock holdings as of February 2012 are Apple (3.1%), Microsoft (2.8%), DIRECTV (2.4%), Gilead Sciences (2.0%), Biogen Idec (1.7%), EOG Resources (1.7%), Comcast (1.5%), Schlumberger (1.4%), CVS Caremark (1.4%) and Precision Castparts (1.4%).

Top Performer Large Cap Growth Mutual Funds May 2011

Investing in this mutual fund involves principal risks such as market conditions risk, investing in growth-oriented stocks risk, and Management risk.

Advantages and disadvantages

The pros of investing in this fund are:

• Has a good Morningstar rating
• Low annual holding turnover rate

The cons are:

• This class A fund has a sales load, you can select the other classes which offer lower fee.

Disclosure: No position

Other mutual funds posts:

• American Funds Growth Fund of America