Ivy Municipal High Income A (IYIAX) Fund

Bond funds or fixed income funds are another less volatile investment vehicle for investor to diversify its investment portfolio. There are two main fixed income mutual funds: taxable bond funds and non taxable bond funds (Municipal Bond funds). This article will provide one of the top municipal bond mutual funds. This muni bond fund can provide regular dividend or income for investor. It is also an efficient way for high income investor to diversify its portfolio.

Ivy Municipal High Income A (MUTF: IYIAX)

The Ivy Municipal High Income fund’s objective is to seek a high level of current income that is exempt from federal income tax. This Muni bond fund invests most of net assets (>80%) in a diversified portfolio of tax-exempt municipal bonds. It invests in bonds rated in the lower tier of investment grade or lower, including bonds rated below investment grade, or junk bonds. The fund typically invests in municipal bonds with remaining maturities of 10 to 30 years. It also invests in investment grade municipal bonds at times when yield spreads are narrow and the higher yields do not justify the increased risk.

IYIAX Fund Details

Ivy Municipal High Income fund details

• Fund Inception Date: May 18, 2009
• Ticker Symbol: IYIAX (Class A)
• CUSIP: 466001849
• Beta (3yr): 1.24
• Rank in category (YTD): 45
• Category: High Yield Muni
• Distribution Rate: 4.69%
• Net Assets: $ 498.32 million
• Sales Load: 4.25%
• Expense Ratio: 0.94%
• Capital Gains: N/A
• Number of Years Up: 1 year
• Number of Years Down: 0 years
• Average Maturity: 22.08 years
• Average Duration: 10.17 years

Updated on 9/16/2011

TD Bank USA Online Banking Review

One of the leading banks in Northeast and Southeast America is TD Bank. TD Bank has expanded its business. As part of TD Bank Financial Group, TD Bank USA offers online banking and variety banking services review. More details on online banking is described below.

Intro

TD Bank is American bank subsidiary division of TD Bank Financial Group (NYSE: TD, TSX:TD, TYO: 8640) which provides financial services to US personal and commercial banking. As the 10 largest banks in US, TD Bank provides a full range of financial products such as banking, insurance, brokerage, and investment banking. It has >1,250 convenient local branches from Maine to Florida. TD Bank also has more than 2,700 ATM machines.


TD Bank was formed with merger of TD Banknorth and Commerce Bank in 2008. The current TD Bank USA CEO is Bharat B. Masrani. The current TD Bank (USA) headquarters are located at Cherry Hill, New Jersey and Portland, MaineUSA. TD Bank tag line is “America's Most Convenient Bank.”

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Wells Fargo Advantage Premier Large Company Growth A EKJAX Fund

Having several domestic stock mutual funds in your investment account may be the right choice for portfolio diversification. Depending on your risk tolerance and market volatility, you should invest about 20% - 50% of your total asset portfolio in these domestic stock funds especially large cap domestic stock funds. One of this best domestic fund is listed below. For more top rated fund review, please check MEPB Financial.

Wells Fargo Advantage Premier Large Company Growth A (MUTF: EKJAX)

The Wells Fargo Advantage Premier Large Company Growth fund’s objective is to provide long-term capital growth. This Wells Fargo Advantage fund invests >80% of net assets in equity securities of large-capitalization companies and <20% of the total assets in equity securities of foreign issuers, including ADRs. It invests principally in equity securities of large-capitalization companies similar to companies in Russell 1000 Index. This Large Growth Domestic Stock fund may use futures, options or swap agreements, derivatives, to manage risk or to enhance return. Details of the fund review is below.

EKJAX Fund Details

Wells Fargo Advantage Premier Large  Company Growth

• Fund Inception Date: January 20, 1998
• Ticker Symbol: EKJAX
• CUSIP: 94984B496
• Beta (3yr): 0.91
• Rank in category (YTD): 17
• Category: Large Growth
• Distribution: 0.05%
• Net Assets: $ 830.12 million
• Sales Load: 5.75%
• Expense Ratio: 1.08%
• Capital Gains: N/A
• Number of Years Up: 8 years
• Number of Years Down: 4 years

Updated on 9/17/2011

Managers Short Duration Government Fund (MGSDX)

As part of fixed income fund or taxable bond fund, ultra-short bond fund can be used for any short term investment or asset diversification. It can also use to hedge against rising interest rate environment. One of this best rated ultrashort taxable bond fund is Managers Short Duration Government. More Best funds are available on MEPB Financial.

Managers Short Duration Government (MUTF: MGSDX)

According the fund’s prospectus, the Managers Short Duration Government fund seeks current income consistent with low volatility of net asset value (NAV). This Managers fund invests most of net assets (>80%) in US Government bonds (debt securities). It may use synthetic instruments or derivatives similar to the bonds or debt securities. It also may employs hedging techniques, such as interest rate futures, options, caps, floors, and swaps, to reduce the interest rate risk of its fixed income securities. This Ultrashort Bond fund may use leverage.

MGSDX Fund Details

Managers Short Duration Government fund

• Fund Inception Date: March 31, 1992
• Ticker Symbol: MGSDX
• CUSIP: 561717794
• Beta (3yr): -0.08
• Rank in category (YTD): 44
• Category: Ultrashort Bond
• Distribution Rate: 1.06%
• Net Assets: $ 341.79 million
• Sales Load: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.81%
• Capital Gains: N/A
• Number of Years Up: 17 years
• Number of Years Down: 1 year
• Effective Duration: 0.3 years

Updated on 9/14/2011

Templeton China World Fund (TCWAX)

As one of emerging markets, China can provide an opportunity for investor to invest. To invest in Chinese companies, investor can invest through mutual funds. One of the best China Region stock fund is Templeton China World fund. The fund review is described below.

Templeton China World A (MUTF: TCWAX)

The Templeton China World fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. The fund typically invests most of net assets (>80%) in securities of China companies. This Franklin Templeton fund may also invest <20% of net assets in securities that do not qualify as China company securities, but whose issuers, in the judgment of the investment manager, are expected to benefit from developments in the economy of China. This Templeton fund is non-diversified.

TCWAX Fund Details

Templeton China World fund details

• Fund Inception Date: September 8, 1993
• Ticker Symbol: TCWAX
• CUSIP: 88018X201
• Beta (3yr): 0.86
• Rank in category (YTD): 5
• Category: China Region
• Distribution: 0.86%
• Net Assets: $ 1.21 billion
• Sales Load: 5.75%
• Expense Ratio: 2.02%
• Capital Gains: N/A
• Number of Years Up: 11 years
• Number of Years Down: 6 years

Updated on 9/14/2011

Top 10 Best Taxable Bond Mutual Funds of September 2011

The following article is about Top 10 best taxable bond mutual funds 2011 for the past 3 years. The top funds include Old Mutual Dwight High Yield, Delaware Extended Duration Bond A, TCW Emerging Markets Income, Direxion Monthly 10 year Note Bull 2x, PIMCO Long Duration Total Return I, etc. The list is recently updated on MEPB Financial.

Introduction

There are two types of bond mutual funds: taxable bond funds and non taxable bond funds. The taxable bond funds provide regular income to investor which is taxable under federal tax rates and state tax rates. Some states may not tax this type of bonds. The non-taxable bond funds are also known as Municipal bond mutual funds or muni bond funds. These muni bond funds provide an income which is exempt from federal tax.

There are variety of taxable bond funds include mortgage backed bond funds, hybrid bond funds, multi sector bond funds, asset backed bond funds, bank loan bond funds, corporate bond funds, government bond funds or treasury bond funds, high yield bond funds or non-investment grade bond funds, foreign bond funds, emerging markets bond funds, and many more.

There are various reasons to invest in taxable bond funds such as:

• These mutual funds provide regular income either monthly or quarterly
• These funds don’t correlate closely to stock markets. Bonds may outperform stocks.
• They can provide instant asset portfolio diversification
• Bond funds can be used to weather volatile market environment especially during economic crisis, depression era, recession environment, etc.

Selection criteria

The fund’s selection criteria are:

• The fund has performed consistently for the past 3 years and long term.
• The fund is acknowledged by Morningstar as one of the best funds with 4 stars or 5 stars rating
• It has one of the top fund’s managers in this category

Top 10 Funds

Top 10 Best taxable bond mutual funds of September 2011 are:

Top 10 Best Taxable Bond Mutual Funds 2011

1. Old Mutual Dwight High Yield Instl
2. Delaware Extended Duration Bond A
3. TCW Emerging Markets Income I
4. Direxion Mthly 10 Year Note Bull 2X
5. PIMCO Long Duration Total Return Instl
6. PIMCO Long-Term US Government Instl
7. GuideStone Funds Extended-Dur Bond GS2
8. MainStay High Yield Opportunities A
9. Dreyfus International Bond A
10. Templeton Global Bond A

updated on 9/14/2011

Westcore International Small-Cap Fund (WTIFX)

There are variety of international stock mutual funds. One of these funds is Small/ Mid cap International stock fund. The following is the review of Wescore International Small Cap Fund. It is considered as one of the best small / mid growth international equity fund.

Westcore International Small Cap Fund (MUTF: WTIFX)

The Westcore International Small-Cap fund’s objective is to seek long-term capital growth. The fund invests mainly in the under value common stock of approximately 35 to 60 foreign small-cap companies per the fund management’s assessment. It invests majority of net assets (>80%) in foreign small-cap companies in developed countries which are companies with <$3.5 billion market capitalizations. This Westcore fund may also invest in emerging markets and/or in U.S.-based companies.

Note: This Westcore International Small-Cap Fund is previously known as Westcore International Frontier

WTIFX Fund Details

Westcore International Small Cap Fund

• Fund Inception Date: December 15, 1999
• Ticker Symbol: WTIFX
• CUSIP: 957904550
• Beta (3yr): 0.95
• Rank in category (YTD): 4
• Category: Foreign Small/ Mid Growth
• Distribution Rate: 0.49%
• Net Assets: $ 138.04 million
• Sales Load: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 1.50%
• Capital Gains: N/A
• Number of Years Up: 7 years
• Number of Years Down: 4 years

Updated on 9/14/2011