July 18, 2011

T Rowe Price Retirement Income Fund (TRRIX)

Retirement Income mutual fund is among one of the most popular mutual fund for people especially retiree and long term investor to invest in. As part of Balanced Fund, this Retirement Income Fund provides instant diversification for investor hence its assets are invested in variety of funds and/or sectors. Most of the assets are invested in bond funds and some of assets are invested in stock funds. The classes of fund include Taxable bonds, Municipal bonds, US domestic stocks, International Stocks (Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, etc), Emerging Markets stocks, etc. One of the best rated retirement income funds is T Rowe Price Retirement Income Fund (TRRIX). Details about this T Rowe Price TRRIX fund can be found below.

T Rowe Price Retirement Income Fund (MUTF: TRRIX)

T Rowe Price Retirement Income Fund objective is to achieve the highest total return over time consistent with an emphasis on both income and growth of capital. This TRRIX fund invests in a set of underlying T. Rowe Price mutual funds representing various asset classes and sectors. This fund is also known as fund of funds or FOF. This fund typically invests about 40% in stocks and about 60% in bonds. This fund invests in diversified holdings.

TRRIX Fund Details
T Rowe Price Retirement Income Fund (TRRIX)
T Rowe Price Retirement Income 
  • Fund Inception Date: September 30, 2002 
  • Ticker Symbol: TRRIX 
  • CUSIP: 74149P507
  • Beta (3yr): 0.78
  • Rank in category (YTD): 16
  • Category: Retirement Income
  • Yield: 2.59%
  • Capital Gains: N/A
  • Net Assets: $2.42 billion
  • Expense Ratio: 0.0%
  • Number of Years Up: 7 years
  • Number of Years Down: 1 year
  • Average Duration: 3.34 years (bond portion)
  • Average Maturity:  5.16 years (bond portion)
  • Annual Turnover Rate: 13.70%
updated on July 18th, 2011

July 17, 2011

Virtus Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund A (HEMZX)

Emerging Markets has been performing above average for the past 3 years. Some analysts even predict, these emerging market equity funds will outperform other equity mutual funds. The following fund is also one of the best rated funds in emerging market equity fund category. Details about Virtus Emerging Markets Opportunities fund can be found below.

Virtus Emerging Markets Opportunities A (MUTF: HEMZX)

This Virtus Emerging Markets Opportunities fund seeks capital appreciation. This Virtus fund offers investors exposure to emerging economies through well-established companies. This HEMZX fund invests most of its assets (>80%) in equity securities or equity-linked instruments of issuers located in emerging markets countries. This Virtus fund will invest in any market capitalization of companies.

HEMZX Fund Details

    Virtus Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund A (HEMZX)
  • Fund Inception Date: August 11, 1999
  • Ticker Symbol: HEMZX (Class A)
  • CUSIP: 92828T707
  • Beta (3yr): 0.84
  • Rank in category (YTD): 1
  • Category: Diversified Emerging Markets
  • Distribution: 0.60%
  • Dividends: Paid Semi-annually
  • Capital Gains: N/A
  • Net Assets: $1.71 billion
  • Number of Years Up: 7 years
  • Number of Years Down: 4 years
Updated on July 17th, 2011

Rajiv Jain has been the fund’s lead manager since May 2006. He is also served as the head of the non-US equity team. The fund has a dividend yield of 0.60% per year. The fund’s annual expense ratio is 1.66%. The last dividend was distributed in June 2011. Investor will need $2,500 minimum initial balance to invest in a regular brokerage account and $100 min balance to invest in tax deferred IRA account. This fund has 0.25% 12b1 fee and 5.75% front-end sales load fee.

Fund Returns

Morningstar has rated 5 stars rating for this HEMZX fund. The best 1-year total return was recorded in 2003 with 50.87% within the 7 years positive years. The worst performance occurred in 2008 with -46.04%. The fund’s performance is as follows:
  • 1-Year: 24.98%
  • 3-Year: 1.54%
  • 5-Year: 11.41%
  • 10-Year: 14.82%
This Virtus fund can be bought from 89 brokerages include Northwestern Mutual Inv Srvc, TD Ameritrade Institutional Services, Schwab Institutional, Fidelity Retail FundsNetwork, JPMorgan, Firstrade, Scottrade Load, etc. For details about this fund, you can check with your local brokerage agent or brokerage account. Investor can choose from other class such as PICEX (Class C) and HIEMX (Institutional Class).

The top ten holdings of this fund out of 89 holdings as of June 2011 are Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd (3.97%), HDFC Bank Ltd (3.90%), Souza Cruz SA (3.73%), Companhia de Bebidas das Americas ADS (3.7%), ITC Ltd (3.2%), Baidu Inc. ADS (3.04%), British American Tobacco PLC (2.68%), Itau Unibanco Holding (2.41%), SAB Miller PLC (1.95%) and Semen Gresik (1.94%). The top 5 sectors in this fund include Consumer Staples (38.14%), Financials (19.85%), Information Technology (13.19%), Consumer Discretionary (8.45%), and Materials (5.85%). Top 5 countries are India, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Mexico, and United Kingdom.

Investment risk in this Virtus fund include: Foreign Investment Risk (currency, political, accounting, economic, and market risk), Non Diversification Risk, Small and Mid Sized Companies Risk, etc.

Disclosure: No Position

July 16, 2011

JHancock Global Opportunities Fund (JGPAX)

Mutual funds have different categories. The following JHancock Global Opportunities fund is part of World Stock fund. The main asset of this fund consists of international stock and US domestic stocks. Details about this fund can be found below.

JHancock Global Opportunities A (MUTF: JGPAX)

The JHancock Global Opportunities fund’s objective is to seek long-term capital appreciation. This John Hancock fund mainly invests in a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of global (U.S. and foreign) equity securities which includes common and preferred stocks and their equivalents. This fund may also invest <20% of assets in foreign securities and 20% of assets in bonds of any maturity rated as low as CC/Ca and their unrated equivalents.

JGPAX Fund Details

    JHancock Global Opportunities Fund (JGPAX)
  • Fund Inception Date: February 28, 2005
  • Ticker Symbol: JGPAX (Class A)
  • CUSIP: 41013P798
  • Beta (3yr): 1.08
  • Rank in category (YTD): 98
  • Category: World Stock
  • Distribution: 2.13%
  • Capital Gains: N/A
  • Net Assets: $1.43 billion
  • Number of Years Up: 4 years
  • Number of Years Down: 1 year
updated on July 15th, 2011

Since 2008, Christoper C. Arbuthnot has been the lead manager of this John Hancock fund. The fund’s expense ratio is 1.49% per year. This expense fee is comparable to the average expense ratio of world stock fund which is 1.47%. JPGAX fund has 0.30% management fee and 5.0% front-end sales load fee. The fund’s total net assets are $1.43 billion. The fund also has a dividend yield of 2.13%.

Fund Returns

John Hancock Mutual FundsThis John Hancock Global Opportunities fund has 4-stars rating from Morningstar. The best 1-year total return was recorded in 2009 with 93.03%. The worst performance year occurred in 2008 with -50.91%. It has returned 20.23% over the past one year and 11.66% over the past five years. This best world stock fund is available in another class such as JGPBX and JGPCX. It has a 5-year average return of 12.18%.

There are around 74 brokerages which offer this JGPAX fund, such as Merrill Lynch, Pershing Fund Center, JP Morgan, Raymond James, Fidelity Retail Funds Network, Firstrade, Scottrade Load, etc. You will need $2,500 minimum initial investment to invest in this fund either in your regular brokerage account or retirement account (IRA).

The top holdings of this JPGAX fund as of June 2011 are OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA (8.47%), Reliance Capital, Ltd (5.76%), Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (5.24%), LLX Logistica SA (5.21%), Live Nation Entertainment, Inc (4.53%), Progress Energy Resources Corp (4.31%), Electricite de France (3.92%), Abengoa SA (3.67%), Google Inc., Class A (3.59%) and Owens Corning (3.45%). Top 5 sectors of this fund include Energy, Industrials, Utilities, Financial Services, and Basic Materials.

Investing in this world stock fund involves principal risks such as
  • Active management risk
  • Equity securities risk
  • Fixed-income securities risk
  • Foreign securities risk
  • Hedging, derivatives and other strategic transactions risk
  • High portfolio turnover risk
  • Large company risk
  • Liquidity risk
  • Lower-rated fixed-income securities risk and high-yield securities risk
  • Medium and smaller company risk
Disclosure: No Position Other World Stock Mutual Funds:

July 15, 2011

Dreyfus International Bond Fund (DIBAX)

World bond fund is part of taxable bond fund family. One of the best world bond funds is Dreyfus International Bond A fund. This fund has an outstanding performance for the past 5 years. It hasn't recorded any negative return for 1 year performance. The following is the fund's review.

Dreyfus International Bond A (Ticker: DIBAX)

Similar to previous Templeton Global Bond Fund, the Dreyfus International Bond fund is categorized as World Bond mutual fund. This Dreyfus International Bond fund objective is to maximize total return through capital appreciation and income. The fund mainly invests most of net assets (>80%) in fixed-income securities. This DIBAX fund also invests >65% of assets in non-U.S. dollar denominated fixed-income securities of foreign governments and companies located in various countries, including emerging markets. The fund may invest <25% of assets in emerging markets and <5% of assets in any single emerging market country. This fund is considered as non-diversified mutual fund.

DIBAX Fund Details
Dreyfus International Bond Fund (DIBAX)
Dreyfus International Bond fund
  • Fund Inception Date: December 2005
  • Ticker Symbol: DIBAX (Class A)
  • CUSIP: 261980684
  • Beta (3yr): 1.38
  • Rank in category (YTD): 56
  • Category: World Bond
  • Yield: 1.92%
  • Expense Ratio: 1.09%
  • Net Assets: $950 million
  • Sales Load: 4.50%
  • Capital Gains: N/A
  • Number of Years Up: 5 years
  • Number of Years Down: 0 years
  • Average Duration: 5.22 years
  • Average Maturity: 8.83
  • Annual Turnover Rate: 153.7%
Updated 7/14/2011

July 14, 2011

Top 40 Best Exchange Traded Funds 2011

This article will look into the best exchange traded funds from various fund families. Some of the best ETFs are Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, SPDR S&P 500, iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index, etc.

Introduction

Exchange traded funds or ETF has become the core investment for many investors (long term, short term, intermediate term). There are two main reasons to invest in ETF. The reasons are liquidity and tax-efficiency. ETFs are traded just like stock. You can trade any ETFs (buy ETF or sell ETF) during the trading day (pre-market, market and post-market) through stock exchange such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq.

ETFs are very liquid compare to mutual funds. Mutual funds can only be bought by end of the day. Also, ETFs are very tax efficient since ETFs don’t distribute any capital gain for the investors or shareholders. Typical mutual funds will distribute its capital gain near end of the year or middle of the year. Without this frequent trading activity such as buying and selling, there isn't much likelihood for an ETF to realize capital gains. Note: This is a feature that ETFs have in common with index mutual funds—low trading generally means low capital gains.

There are many major ETF sponsors such as:
  • Vanguard: VTI (Total Stock Market), VV (Large Cap), VO (Mid Cap), VWO (Emerging Market)
  • State Street Global Advisor SPDR: SPY (S&P500), DIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average)
  • Invesco Powershares: QQQQ (Nasdaq 100 index)
  • BlackRock iShares: GD (Gold Commodity ETF), IVV (S&P 500), EEM (Emerging Markets), IWM (iShares Russell 2000 Index)
  • Schwab: SCHP (Schwab US TIPS ETF), SCHB (Schwab US Broad Market ETF), SCHF (Schwab International Equity ETF)

ETF Categories

Top 40 Best Exchange Traded Funds 2011Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are similar to mutual funds; they also can be categorized into 2 main classes such as Equity ETF or stock ETF and Fixed Income ETF or bond ETF. As usual, the bond ETF is less volatile than stock ETF.

Bond ETF can be divided into two main branches such as taxable bond ETF and municipal bond ETF or non taxable bond ETF. Taxable bond ETF can consist of short term bond, intermediate term bond, and long term bond ETF. In term of style, Taxable Bond ETF can be Investment Grade Bond, High Yield Bond ETF, Government bond, Mortgage Bond, etc.

The other bond ETFs are non taxable bond ETF or municipal bond ETF. The municipal bond has advantages especially for people that pay high income tax on Federal and state level since these Bond ETFs are tax free.

Stock ETF can be classified into three main groups such as US Domestic Stock ETF, International Stock ETF, and Emerging Market ETF. Domestic Stock ETFs include small cap stock ETF, mid cap stock ETF, and large cap stock ETF. International Stock ETFs include European Stock ETF, Pacific Stock ETF, World Stock, and more. Emerging Stock ETF include most developing countries in Asia, South America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Some of these emerging markets countries are known as BRIC acronym (Brazil, Russia, India and China).

For specialize sectors, ETFs also have many sector ETFs are: REIT ETF (VNQ or IYR), Technology ETF (QQQ), Health Care ETF, Energy ETF, commodity ETF (Gold, Silver, Natural Gas etc), and specific country ETF (Brazil, Russia, India etc).

Recently, there is also many leverage ETFs are being introduced such as SDS, TNA, TZA, EDZ, EDC, etc.

Top 40 ETF 2011

The following list has been compiled based on its total assets. The ETFs also are well known by many investors. They are suitable for long term investment as well as short term investment.

The top 40 popular ETFs 2011 are:
  1. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)
  2. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)
  3. Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND)
  4. SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)
  5. Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (VWO)
  6. Vanguard Total International Stock Index ETF (VXUS)
  7. SPDR Gold Shares (GLD)
  8. iShares MSCI EAFE Index (EFA)
  9. iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)
  10. Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO)
NoFund NameTickerYTD1 Year3 Year5 Year10 Year
1Vanguard Total Stock Market ETFVTI5.86%26.48%5.35%3.82%3.91%
2Vanguard S&P 500 ETFVOO5.32%N/AN/AN/AN/A
3Vanguard Total Bond Market ETFBND3.69%4.78%6.72%N/AN/A
4SPDR S&P 500SPY4.90%23.36%4.03%2.84%2.67%
5Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETFVWO-2.01%19.47%4.87%10.54%N/A
6Vanguard Total Intl Stock Idx ETFVXUSN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
7SPDR Gold SharesGLD10.13%30.19%17.09%18.67%N/A
8iShares MSCI EAFE IndexEFA0.94%18.94%-1.41%0.88%N/A
9iShares MSCI Emerging Markets IndexEEM-2.23%18.43%4.22%10.49%N/A
10Vanguard Mid-Cap ETFVO7.09%32.11%7.84%5.31%N/A
updated on July 14th, 2011

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (Ticker: VTI)

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF is the most popular exchange traded funds because of its low expense ratio fee. It only has 0.06% annual expense ratio. This Vanguard ETF tracks the performance of a benchmark index, MSCI US Broad Market Index, which represents 99.5% or more of the total market capitalization of all the U.S. common stocks regularly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq over-the-counter market. This fund employs passive management style to invest in variety of company stocks in its index. It holds a broadly diversified collection of securities in more than 3,000 of the stocks in its target index.

 Best Performing ETFs May 2012

Vanguard Total Stock Market ETFThe ETF has returned 26.48% over the past year and 5.35% over the past three years. Morningstar has rated this VTI fund with 4 stars rating. This fund also has a dividend yield of1.77%. The annual turnover rate is only 6%. If you are interested in Vanguard Mutual Fund version of this ETF, you can choose Investor Shares (VTSMX) and Admiral Shares (VTSAX).

The primary portfolio consists of large blend stocks. As of June 2011, the top 10 sectors of fund are Information Technology, Financials, Energy, Health care, industrials, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, materials, utilities, and telecommunication services. Top 10 largest equity holdings for this fund include Exxon Mobil Corp, Apple Inc, Chevron Corp, General Electric (GE), International Business Machines Corp (IBM), Microsoft Corporation, Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), AT&T Inc, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (Ticker: VOO)

Vanguard S and P 500 ETFThe Vanguard S&P 500 ETF fund objective is to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of large-capitalization stocks. Similar to Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF, this Vanguard fund also uses a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. This S&P 500 index is a widely recognized benchmark of U.S. stock market performance and it consists of the large U.S. companies stocks. This ETF is relative new ETF; the ETF is opened for investment since September 2010.

This Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has a year to date return of 5.77%. Any long term performance is not available at this time. The SEC yield is 1.96%. The fund has not been rated by Morningstar. For Mutual Fund shares, you can select either Investor Shares (VFINX) or Admiral Shares (VFIAX).

As of June 2011, there are 504 stocks in its holding. This Vanguard VOO fund median market cap is $49.1 billion. The top 10 equity sectors include information technology, financials, energy, health care, industrials, consumer staples, consumer discretionary, materials, utilities, and telecommunication services. Top 10 largest equity holdings for this fund include Exxon Mobil Corp, Apple Inc, Chevron Corp, General Electric (GE), International Business Machines Corp (IBM), Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), AT&T Inc, Microsoft Corporation, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND)

The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF seeks to track the performance of a broad, market-weighted bond index. As the third Vanguard ETF in this list, this Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF also employs a passive management or indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index. The fund invests its assets to track its index through a broadly diversified collection of securities holdings.

Best ETF - BNDThis Vanguard BND fund will invest majority of assets (>80%) in bonds held in the index. It maintains a dollar-weighted average maturity consistent with that of the index, ranging between 5 and 10 years. This Vanguard fund usually invest in >3,000 bonds representative of the US investment grade market bond.

This exchange traded fund is rated with 3 stars by Morningstar. The fund has returned 2.27% over the past three month, 3.55% over the past year, and 6.29% over the past three years. It is considered as Intermediate Term Bond ETF with high credit quality and medium interest rate sensitivity. The fund’s average duration is 5.2 years and the fund’s average maturity is 7.4 years. The fund has $90.6 billion total net assets. The expense ratio of this bond ETF is only 0.11% per year. The yield is 3.31%.

As of June 2011, the fund assets are allocated as follow: 41.5% in Treasury / Agency, 28.5% in Government Mortgage Backed, 11.3% in Industrials, 7.7% in Finance, 5.5% in Foreign, 2.7% in Commercial Mortgage Backed, 2.3% in Utilities, 0.3% in Asset Backed, and 0.2% in other. The number of bonds in this fund is 4902 bonds.

SPDR S&P 500 (Ticker: SPY)

SPDR S&P 500 ETFAs the oldest ETF and part of State Street Global Advisors fund, SPDR S&P 500 has been known by most investors since 1993. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF objective is to seek the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the S&P 500 Index. SPDR Trust is an exchange-traded fund that holds all of the S&P 500 Index stocks. It is comprised of undivided ownership interests called SPDRs. The fund issues and redeems SPDRs only in multiples of 50,000 SPDRs in exchange for S&P 500 Index stocks and cash. The total expense ratio is 0.09% per year which is low compare to most mutual funds and average category.

The fund has a yield of 1.84% and it receives 3 stars rating. The fund yield is distributed quarterly. This SPDR fund has 502 stocks in its holdings. This SPY fund performance has returned 29.64% over the past year, 3.09% over the past 3 year, and 2.73% over the past five year.
The primary portfolio of this SPDR S&P 500 fund consists of large blend stocks.

As of July 2011, the top 5 sectors of fund are Technology, Financial Services, Industrials, Energy and Healthcare. The top 10 largest equity holdings for this fund include Exxon Mobil Corp, Apple Inc, International Business Machines Corp (IBM), Chevron Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, General Electric (GE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), AT&T Inc, Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), and Pfizer Inc.

Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (VWO)

Vanguard MSCI Emerging Market ETFVanguard Emerging Markets Stock ETF objective is to track the performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets index. The fund employs a passively managed investment approach by investing all or substantially all of assets in a representative sample of the common stocks included in the MSCI Emerging Markets index. This fund invest majority of assets in companies stocks located in emerging markets around the world such as Brazil, Russia, China, Korea, and Taiwan.

The current total expense ratio of this Vanguard ETF is 0.22% per year. It also has 1.69% yield. This ETF has 912 stocks in its holdings. The median market cap of the companies is $18.4 billion. This fund has 3 years beta of 1.15 against its index. If you are interested in mutual fund of this ETF, you can choose the following classes such as Investor Shares (VEIEX) or Admiral Shares (VEMAX).

The primary portfolio consists of large blend Diversified Emerging Markets stocks. As of July 2011, the 5 sectors of this emerging markets stock ETF are Financial Services (23.5), Basi materials (15.5%), Energy (14.1%), Technology (12.7%), and Consumer Cyclical (8.1%). The top 6 countries of fund are China, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, South Africa, and India. Top 10 largest equity holdings for this fund include Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Samsung Electronics Co, Vale SA, Gazprom OAO, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, China Mobile Ltd, Itau Unibanco Holding SA, America Movil S.A.B de CV, Industrial And Commercial Bank Of China Limited, and China Construction Bank Corporation.

Vanguard Total International Stock Index ETF (VXUS)

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF is seeking to track the MSCI All Country World ex USA Investable Market Index performance. This index measures the investment return of companies stocks located outside the United States (USA). Since it is an index ETF, it uses a passively management style.

YTD Best Performing Non Leveraged ETFs

The fund consists of 6731 stocks. This Vanguard Total International Stock ETF has a median market cap of $24 billion. The fund’s annual expense ratio is 0.20%. This ETF is just newly introduced; there is no long term performance history. You can check the mutual fund classes to find its fund performance. The mutual funds versions include Investor Shares (VGTSX), and Admiral Shares (VTIAX).

The month-end ten largest holdings are BHP Billiton Ltd, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Nestle SA, HSBC Holdings Plc, Novartis AG, BP Plc, Vodafone Group Plc, Rio Tinto Plc, Roche Holding AG, and Total SA. The top 10 countries in this fund include United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, France, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, China, Korea, and Brazil.

SPDR Gold Shares (Ticker: GLD)

SPDR Gold Shares ETFSPDR Gold Shares fund objective is to replicate the performance, after expenses, of the price of gold bullion. Issuing shares backed by physical bullion, SPDR Gold Shares GLD aims to offer investors the price performance of spot gold, minus administrative expense costs. The Bullion is held in London vaults under the custody of HSBC Bank USA, N.A., ridding investors of the inefficiencies and inconveniences associated with transporting and storing the commodity.

The primary portfolio consists of gold commodity. As of July 2011, the top holding is Physical Gold Bullion which is valued at 61 billion.

iShares MSCI EAFE Index (Ticker: EFA)

BlackRock iShares EFA ETFiShares MSCI EAFE Index ETF is to seek investment results that correspond generally to the MSCI EAFE index benchmark price and yield performance, before fees and expenses. The fund invests majority of the assets in the securities of the underlying index. The underlying index has been developed by MSCI as an equity benchmark for its international stock performance. The underlying index includes stocks from Europe, Australasia and the Far East as measured by the MSCI EAFE Index.

IShares MSCI EAFE Index EFA tracks the most established foreign large-cap index. It is still one of the best choices for a core foreign-stock holding. This fund has nearly 8 times the assets of the next-largest developed-market foreign-equity ETF and almost 15 times the daily dollar trading volume, making it the most liquid core foreign option in the ETF universe. The fund’s CUSIP is 464287465.

The primary portfolio consists of large blend International stocks. As of June 2011, the top 6 countries of fund are United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland. There are 933 holdings in this ETF. Top 10 largest equity holdings for this fund include Nestle SA, HSBC Holding PLC, BHP Billiton Limited, Novartis AG, BP Plc, Vodafone Group, Royal Dutch Shell PLC ADR, Total SA, Roche Holdings AG Genusschein, and Siemens AG Reg.

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM)

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index objective is to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets index. The fund invests most of assets (>90%) in the securities of the underlying index or in ADRs and GDRs representing such securities. The index was developed by MSCI as an equity benchmark for international stock performance.

IShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index EEM provides broad exposure to the emerging-markets large-cap universe. This fund is appropriate as a core investor holding although it would be not recommended for the bulk of international equity exposure given its higher level of volatility. The emerging-markets large caps have been about 60% more volatile than U.S. large caps over the past 15 years according to latest studies.

Best Diversified Emerging Markets Stock Mutual Funds 2012

The primary portfolio consists of large blend Diversified Emerging Markets stocks. As of June 2011, the top 5 countries of fund are China, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, and South Africa. Top 10 largest equity holdings for this fund include Samsung Electronics Co, Gazprom OAO, Petrobras - Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. ADR PR, Vale SA ADR, Petrobras - Petroleo Brasileiro, China Mobile Ltd, America Movil S.A.B., Taiwan Semiconductor SP, And Commercial Bank Of China Limited, and Infosys Ltd SP ADR.

Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (Ticker: VO)

Vanguard Mid Cap ETFVanguard Mid-Cap ETF is seeking to track the MSCI US Mid Cap 450 Index. The fund mainly invests majority of its assets in the stocks that make up the index, holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting in the index. The index measures the investment return of mid-capitalization stocks. The companies usually have market capitalizations of approximately $1 billion to $8.5 billion.

The fund currently has 453 stocks. This Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has a median market cap of $6.7 billion. The fund’s annual expense ratio is 0.12%. There is also two different mutual funds versions include Investor Shares (VIMSX), and Admiral Shares (VIMAX). The fund has returned 38.68% over the past year, and 6.39% over the past three years.

The month-end ten largest holdings are El Paso Corp, Netflix Inc, Humana Inc, Dover Corp, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc, Host Hotels & Resorts Inc, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, NVIDIA Corp, Consol Energy Inc, and AvalonBay Communities Inc. The top 8 sectors include Financials, Consumer Discretionary, Information Technology, Industrials, Health care, Energy, Materials, And Utilities.

Where and how can I purchase these ETFs?

You will need a brokerage to buy ETFs since it is traded like a stock. Don’t be afraid with this, you can check my review of various brokerages to buy and sell ETF. I would recommend using the following brokerages:
  • Vanguard – You can buy or sell Vanguard ETFs for free online. Vanguard currently has more than 50 ETFs for free to trade. If you trade stock, you can trade as little as $7.00 per trade up to 25 trades a year otherwise it is $20 per trade. It also offers various mutual funds that track indexes.
  • Fidelity – Fidelity offers 30 ishares ETF for free which include iShares Russell 2000 Index (IWM), iShares S&P 500 Index (IVV) and more. It is also a one stop shop for mutual funds as well as cash management banking. Commission for trading is only $7.95 per trade.
  • TD Ameritrade – There are 100+ ETFs for free trade. Please check the details about the limitation. You can trade stock for $9.95 per trade.
  • Charles Schwab – Schwab offers 14 Schwab ETFs for free trading. You can trade stocks for $8.95 per trade.
  • Scottrade – You can trade ETF using Scottrade for $7.00 per trade. You can also trade stock for the same commission fee. It also offers 3,000 No load & No Transaction Fees (NTF) fund for free and 15,000 mutual funds.
Please check my Best Brokerage 2012 page for additional information about brokerage accounts.

Disclosure: As of July 13th 2011, I’m long VTI & VWO. I may trade these positions at anytime.

Top 40 Popular and Best ETF 2012: Funds Information

NoFund NameTickerCategoryNet Assets Expense RatioYieldRatingAnnual Turnover Ratio
1Vanguard Total Stock Market ETFVTILarge Blend167.88B0.06%1.77%45.00%
2Vanguard S&P 500 ETFVOOLarge Blend108.03B0.06%1.96%NR5.00%
3Vanguard Total Bond Market ETFBNDIntermediate-Term Bond90.55B0.11%3.31%375.00%
4SPDR S&P 500SPYLarge Blend89.23B0.09%1.84%35.38%
5Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETFVWODiversified Emerging Mkts64.17B0.22%1.69%412.00%
6Vanguard Total Intl Stock Idx ETFVXUSForeign Large Blend60.80B0.20%N/ANR6.00%
7SPDR Gold SharesGLDCommodities Precious Metals60.68B0.40%0.00%NR0.00%
8iShares MSCI EAFE IndexEFAForeign Large Blend39.40B0.35%2.81%35.00%
9iShares MSCI Emerging Markets IndexEEMDiversified Emerging Mkts38.41B0.68%1.79%414.00%
10Vanguard Mid-Cap ETFVOMid-Cap Blend29.40B0.12%1.10%316.00%
11iShares S&P 500 IndexIVVLarge Blend27.61B0.09%1.85%35.00%
12Vanguard Small Cap ETFVBSmall Blend26.12B0.12%1.08%412.00%
13PowerShares QQQQQQLarge Growth24.34B0.20%0.73%38.19%
14Vanguard Short-Term Bond ETFBSVShort-Term Bond22.05B0.11%2.09%460.00%
15Vanguard Growth ETFVUGLarge Growth21.03B0.12%1.19%426.00%
16Vanguard REIT Index ETFVNQReal Estate20.94B0.12%3.28%312.00%
17iShares Barclays TIPS BondTIPInflation-Protected Bond20.59B0.20%3.61%413.00%
18Vanguard Extended Market Index ETFVXFMid-Cap Blend20.10B0.12%0.93%310.00%
19iShares Russell 2000 IndexIWMSmall Blend16.22B0.20%1.07%320.00%
20Vanguard Value ETFVTVLarge Value15.62B0.12%2.35%327.00%
21Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETFVEUForeign Large Blend14.42B0.22%2.06%36.00%
22iShares iBoxx $ Invest Grade Corp BondLQDLong-Term Bond13.70B0.15%4.71%37.00%
23iShares Russell 1000 Growth IndexIWFLarge Growth13.54B0.20%1.24%424.00%
24iShares MSCI Brazil IndexEWZLatin America Stock12.69B0.61%4.96%413.00%
25iShares Silver TrustSLVCommodities Precious Metals12.35B0.50%0.00%NR0.00%
26Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETFBIVIntermediate-Term Bond12.05B0.11%3.89%446.00%
27iShares Barclays Aggregate BondAGGIntermediate-Term Bond11.85B0.20%3.39%3406.00%
28iShares Russell 1000 Value IndexIWDLarge Value11.64B0.20%1.94%324.00%
29iShares S&P MidCap 400 IndexIJHMid-Cap Blend11.48B0.20%1.05%414.00%
30SPDR S&P MidCap 400MDYMid-Cap Blend11.20B0.25%0.93%414.93%
31SPDR Dow Jones Industrial AverageDIALarge Value9.92B0.18%2.45%50.12%
32Energy Select Sector SPDRXLEEquity Energy9.78B0.20%1.41%47.68%
33Vanguard Small Cap Growth ETFVBKSmall Growth9.20B0.12%0.43%434.00%
34Vanguard MSCI European ETFVGKEurope Stock8.83B0.14%4.33%311.00%
35Vanguard MSCI EAFE ETFVEAForeign Large Blend8.75B0.12%2.37%36.00%
36iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury BondSHYShort Government8.46B0.15%0.95%385.00%
37iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate BdHYGHigh Yield Bond8.33B0.50%7.84%216.00%
38iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Credit BondCSJShort-Term Bond8.29B0.20%2.17%312.00%
39Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETFVIGLarge Blend8.28B0.18%2.01%515.00%
40iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock IndexPFFMiscellaneous Sector8.00B0.48%7.18%NRN/A
Additional information:

July 13, 2011

Joel Tillinghast to take short leave, FLPSX fund Manager

As one of the star manager from Fidelity, Joel Tillinghast is taking a short leave during the fourth quarter of 2011. The absence will begin from September 6th, 2011 until January 2012. Joel Tillinghast has been the lead fund manager of Fidelity Low-Priced Stock fund (Ticker: FLPSX) since 1989. This Fidelity fund also has 4 stars rating from Morningstar.

During his absence, this Fidelity Low-Priced Stock fund will be managed by Jamie Harmon, lead manager of Fidelity Advisor Small Cap. He will be supported by five member supporting cast with sector specialties. Harmon will consult with Tillinghast if he want to trade stocks in the fund's top 50 holdings.

Full article can be found here.

Cohen & Steers Realty Shares Fund (CSRSX)

Cohen & Steers Realty Shares fund (Ticker: CSRSX) is a U.S. domestic stock mutual fund. This real estate sector equity fund has a decent yield.

REIT sector stock fund can be attractive for investor since it relatively has higher dividend income. One of the best Real Estate sector equity mutual funds is Cohen & Steers Realty Shares. Details fund's review can be found below.

Cohen & Steers Realty Shares (Ticker: CSRSX)

The Cohen & Steers Realty Shares fund objective is to provide total return through investment in real estate securities. The Cohen & Steers fund invests >80% or more of its total assets in common stocks and other equity securities of real estate companies. This fund may invest in real estate companies of any market capitalization such as large cap, mid cap, or small cap. The CSRSX fund may invest some of assets (<20%) of its total assets in securities of foreign issuers which meet the same criteria for investment as domestic companies. Please note, this actively managed fund is non-diversified equity mutual fund.

CSRSX Fund Details

Cohen & Steers Realty Shares Fund (CSRSX)
Cohen & Steers Realty Shares fund details
  • Fund Inception Date: July 2, 1991
  • Ticker Symbol: CSRSX
  • CUSIP: 192476109
  • Net Assets: $5.1 billion
  • Beta (3yr): 1.50 
  • Rank in category (YTD): 27
  • Category: Real Estate Sector Equity
  • Yield: 2.91%
  • Expense Ratio: 0.96%
  • Sales Load: 0%
  • Capital Gains: N/A           
  • Number of Years Up: 16 years     
  • Number of Years Down: 3 years
  • Turnover: 106%
Updated on May 2017

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