American Funds Investment Company of America Fund (AIVSX)

American Funds Investment Company of America A (AIVSX) Fund is a popular domestic stock mutual fund. This stock fund invests in U.S. stock companies.

As one of the top mutual fund family, American Funds is also one of the most popular funds. One of these popular funds is American Funds Investment Company of America A (AIVSX) fund. This Investment Company of America fund invests mainly in US companies stocks. Details about the fund review can be found below.

American Funds Investment Company of America A (Ticker: AIVSX)

The investment objective of American Funds Investment Company of America fund is to provide long-term capital growth and income. This American Funds fund invests mainly in common stocks, most of which have a history of paying dividends. It may invest small part of assets (<15%) in foreign securities. This large blend stock fund focuses its investment in medium to larger capitalization companies, though it may invest in any capitalization size.

AIVSX Fund Details

Investment Company of America

• Fund Inception Date: 01/02/1934
• Ticker Symbol: AIVSX (Class A)
• CUSIP: 461308108
• Beta (3yr): 0.93
• Rank in category (YTD): 62%
• Category: Large Blend
• Distribution: 1.74%
• Capital Gains: check website
• Expense Ratio: 0.59%  
• Net Assets: $ 85.3 billion
• Number of Years Up: 63 years

T Rowe Price US Large Cap Core Fund (TRULX)

This next US domestic stock fund is one of the new funds offered by T Rowe Price. This T. Rowe Price U.S. Large-Cap Core fund has been awarded Top Mutual Fund for newcomer category by S&P. Details about the fund’s review can be found below.

T Rowe Price US Large Cap Core (TRULX)

The T. Rowe Price U.S. Large-Cap Core investment fund objective is to achieve long-term capital growth. This US stock fund typically invests most of the net assets (>80%) in the stocks of large-cap U.S. companies, whose market cap is larger than the median market cap of companies in the Russell 1000 Index. This TRP fund expects to typically invest in approximately 50 to 75 companies.

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: June 25, 2009
• Ticker Symbol: TRULX
• CUSIP: 74149R107
• Beta (3yr): N/A
• Rank in category (YTD): 49%
• Category: Large Blend
• Yield: 0.61%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 1.15%
• Net Assets: $ 43.1 million
• Number of Years Up: 2 years
• Number of Years Down: 0 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 74%

Updated on 5/26/2012

Jeffrey Rottinghaus is the lead fund manager of this T Rowe Price fund. He has been the manager since its inception in June 26, 2009. Since this fund is new, there is no Morningstar rating yet, but it is recognized as the top S&P mutual fund of 2011. This fund’s dividend yield is 1.07% and is distributed annually. Last year (2010), the dividend was $0.13. The annual expense ratio of this top fund is 1.15% comparable to the average in the Large Blend category (1.14%).

Loomis Sayles Strategic Income Fund (NEFZX) Class A

The following article is about Loomis Sayles Strategic Income A fund. This Loomis Sayles bond fund is part of taxable multisector fund. It can invest in varieties of bonds or fixed income like government bonds or treasuries, corporate bonds, convertible, foreign debts, and more. Details about this mutual fund can be found below.

Loomis Sayles Strategic Income A (MUTF: NEFZX)

The Loomis Sayles Strategic Income fund seeks high current income and its secondary objective is capital growth. This bond fund invests all of its assets in income producing securities with a focus on U.S. corporate bonds, convertible securities, foreign debt instruments, including those in emerging markets and related foreign currency transactions and U.S. government securities. It may invest >35% of assets in preferred stocks and dividend-paying common stocks. This Loomis Sayles fund may also invest in Rule 144A securities, structured notes, zero-coupon bonds, pay-in-kind bonds, mortgage-related securities, stripped securities, swaps, futures, and other derivatives.

Vanguard Limited Term Tax Exempt Fund (VMLTX)

Municipal bond funds are among the top performer mutual fund for year 2011. One of the largest muni bond funds is Vanguard Ltd-Term Tx-Ex. This Vanguard fund invests primarily in investment grade municipal bonds. Details about the fund review can be found below.

Vanguard Limited Term Tax Exempt (Ticker: VMLTX)

This Vanguard Limited Term Tax Exempt fund is seeking current income exempt from federal income tax, with limited price volatility. This Vanguard fund invests >75% of assets in municipal bonds in the top three credit-rating categories. It may invest minority of assets (<20%) in bonds rated Baa or BBB. The fund invests <5% of assets in securities with lower credit ratings or unrated.

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: August 31, 1987
• Ticker Symbol: VMLTX
• CUSIP: 922907704
• Beta (3yr): 0.33
• Rank in category (YTD): 52%
• Category: Muni Short
• Distribution Rate: 2.23%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.20%
• Net Assets: $ 14.58 billion
• Number of Years Up: 23 years
• Number of Years Down: 0 years
• Average Duration: 2.8 years
• Average Maturity: 2.4 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 14.0%

Updated on 12/4/2011

DWS GNMA Fund (GGGGX)

DWS GNMA fund will become one of the popular bond funds for investor to invest. This fund invests mainly in mortgage backed bond issued and guaranteed by US Government. This top rated S&P mutual fund is being reviewed below.

DWS GNMA A Fund (Ticker: GGGGX)

The DWS GNMA Fund objective is to seek to produce a high level of income. This best bond fund invests majority of net assets (>80%) in Ginnie Maes, the mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA). This DWS fund may also hold <10% of total net assets in cash or money market securities, short-term bond funds, which investments may not be issued or guaranteed by the US government and its agencies.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: February 1, 2009
• Ticker Symbol: GGGGX
• CUSIP: 23337P308
• Beta (3yr): 0.64
• Rank in category (YTD): 47%
• Category: Intermediate Government
• Yield: 4.48%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.78%
• Sales Load: 2.75%
• Net Assets: $ 2.30 billion
• Number of Years Up: 3 years
• Number of Years Down: 0 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 211%

Updated on 5/26/2012

DWS GNMA fund

This DWS fund is classified in the Intermediate Government bond fund category. This best fund is currently managed by John Ryan. He has been managing this fund since July 2010. The inception date of this GGGGX fund is February 2, 1999.

The fund’s total net assets are $2.26 billion. The dividend yield is 4.27%. The last dividend was distributed on September 23, 2011 ($0.06). The annual expense ratio of this taxable bond fund is 0.76%.

YTD Top Performer Closed End Funds December 2011 | CEF

The following article will look into the YTD top performer CEFs of 2011. The top performer funds include DNP Select Income Fund (DNP), Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT), Invesco Insured Municipal Bond (IMC), and more.

The Year-To-Date Top Performer Closed End Funds December 2011 are:

YTD Top Performer CEFs 2011

1. DNP Select Income Fund (DNP)
2. Gabelli Utility Trust (GUT)
3. Invesco Insured Muni Bond (IMC)
4. BlackRock Build America Bond (BBN)
5. Flaherty Preferred Income Fund (PFD)
6. Aberdeen Global Income (FCO)
7. BlackRock MuniHoldings Quality II (MUE)
8. Nuveen CA Performance Plus Muni (NCP)
9. BlackRock Municipal Income Investment Quality Trust (BAF)
10. BlackRock MuniYield Investment Quality Fund (MFT)

updated on 12/4/2011

Update of Sequoia and T. Rowe Price Retirement Income Fund

The following is the updated information for Sequoia Fund and T. Rowe Price Retirement Income Fund. These funds have been selected as the Top S&P Mutual Funds of 2011. Details for these funds can be found below.

Sequoia fund (SEQUX)

Sequoia fund

Sequoia fund has been selected as the Top S&P Mutual Funds of 2011. This fund invests mainly in undervalued US Companies. It may also invest in foreign securities. This large blend US stock mutual fund has been rated the best fund by Morningstar with 5 star rating. More details about the fund's review can be found on my previous article, Sequoia Fund (SEQUX).

The performance of this SEQUX fund based on the load adjusted return is as below:

• 1-year: 6.73%
• 3-year: 3.53%
• 5-year: 2.55%
• 10-year: 5.17%

This fund has recorded 34 years of positive return and only 6 years of negative return so far. Morningstar gave this fund 5-star rating. The best achievement of 1-year total return was in 1997 with 43.20% and the worst was in 2008 with -27.03%.

The top 5 holdings of this fund as of June 30, 2011 are Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc, Berkshire Hathaway Inc, TJX Companies, Fastenal Company and Idexx Laboratories.

T. Rowe Price Retirement Income Fund (TRRIX)

T. Rowe Price Retirement Income Fund invests in 40% stock funds and 60% bond funds. This balanced fund is managed by Jerome A. Clark. These mutual fund is part of fund of funds.Morningstar has rated this fund 3-star rating. S&P also has awarded this fund with the top mutual fund award of 2011. This TRRIX fund has performed in 7 years of positive return. The 1-year total return was negative so far only in 2008 (-18.39%). The best 1-year total return was achieved in year 2009 (22.07%). Based on the load adjusted return, this fund has returned 0.52% over the past year and 3.19% over the past 3-year.

The top 10 holdings are Emerging Markets Bond Fund, Emerging Markets Bond Fund, Equity Index 500 Fund, High Yield Fund, Inflation Focused Bond Fund, International Bond Fund, International Growth & Income Fund, International Stock Fund, New Income Fund and Overseas Stock Fund.

Disclosure: No Position