American Funds Income Fund of America Fund (AMECX) Class A

American Funds Income Fund of America Fund (AMECX) Class A is a popular balanced mutual fund. This American Funds fund focuses its investment in stocks and bonds which produce income.

American Funds Income Fund of America A (Ticker: AMECX)

The investment objective of American Funds Income Fund of America is to provide current income and capital growth. This balanced fund uses its assets to purchase income-producing securities. It invests at majority of its assets in common stocks (>60%). It may invest in foreign stocks and higher yielding nonconvertible debt securities.

AMECX Fund Profile

Income Fund of America

• Fund Inception Date: December 31, 2970
• Ticker Symbol: AMECX
• CUSIP: 453320103
• Beta (3yr): 0.96
• Rank in category (YTD): 93%
• Category: Moderate Allocation
• Yield: 4.00%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.58%
• Net Assets: $ 71.91 billion
• Number of Years Up: 34 years
• Number of Years Down: 7 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 38.00%

Updated May 2017

Dina N. Perry has managed this moderate allocation mutual fund since January 1992. It has total net assets of $71.91 billion. The 12-month dividend yield is 4.00%. This dividend is paid out in quarterly basis (March, June, September and December). The latest dividend was distributed to its investors in March 2012 ($0.17). The annual holdings turnover as of April 17, 2012 is 38%. This rate is lower than the average in the Moderate Allocation category (68.10%). There is a management fee of 0.24% and maximum sales charge of 5.75%. Interested in best balanced mutual funds for the past decade, please check this article.

Morningstar analysts rated this hybrid fund with Silver and 3-stars rating. Since its inception, this mutual fund has managed to achieve 34 years of positive return and 7 years of negative return. The best 1-year total return was achieved in 2003 (25.27%), and the worst 1-year total return was occurred in 2008 (-28.52%). Based on load adjusted returns, its performance is as follows:

• Year 2017: 3.90% (YTD)
• Year 2016: 10.58%
• Year 2015: -1.48%
• Year 2014: 8.39%
• Year 2013: 18.26%

The minimum initial investment needed for this balanced fund is $250 for brokerage and retirement account. The minimum subsequent investment is $50. The brokerages that provide this fund for investors are Schwab Retail, Merrill Lynch, Vanguard, JP Morgan, Edward Jones, Royal Alliance, E Trade Financial, etc. This AF fund is available in many other classes, such as: Class B (IFABX), Class C (IFACX), Class F-1 (IFAFX), Class F-2 (AMEFX), Class 529-A (CIMAX), Class 529-B (CIMBX), Class 529-C (CIMCX), Class 529-E (CIMEX), Class 529-F-1 (CIMFX).

For retirement classes, you can choose from: Class R-1 (RIDAX), Class R-2 (RIDBX), Class R-3 (RIDCX), Class R-4 (RIDEX), Class R-5 (RIDFX) and Class R-6 (RIDGX).

As of March 2012, the 10 largest equity holdings are Home Depot (2.4%), Bristol-Myers Squibb (2.3%), Verizon (2.3%), Merck (2.2%), General Electric (2.1%), Royal Dutch Shell (1.7%), Chevron (1.4%), Waste Management (1.4%), Philip Morris International (1.4%) and DuPont (1.3%). The largest industry holdings are Pharmaceuticals (7.5%), Oil, gas & consumable fuels (7.1%), Diversified telecommunication services (5.8%), Real Estate Investment Trusts (3.8%) and Food products (3.7%).

more: Best Mutual Funds for 2012 & 2013

Investing in this mutual fund involve principal risks such as market risk, Investing in income-oriented stocks risk, bonds investment risk, Investing in lower rated bonds risk, foreign investment risk, management risk, etc.

Pros:

• Popular among investors and it has high yield
• Good long term track record
• low expense ratio fee

Cons:

• Class A has sales load

Disclosure: No Position