Top Performing Municipal Bond Mutual Funds of 2011

This article will look into the Top Performing Municipal Bond Mutual Funds of 2011. Among the best performing funds are: Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Bond Strategy Intermediate Term A, New Hampshire Municipal, Dupree Taxable Municipal Bond, Oppenheimer AMT-Free Municipals A, etc.

Top Performer Muni Bond Funds 2011

Best of the categories

Municipal bond funds were one of the dislike classes of mutual funds for 2011. Meredith Whitney is one of the well known analyst who predicted the economic crisis on 2008. On December 2010, Whitney said there will be hundreds of municipal bonds goes default on 2011. However, 2011 has passed; municipal bond funds are not only recovered. They are one of the top bond funds which outperformed other fund’s categories such as international stock funds and US stock funds.

As we know, Municipal bond funds are part of fixed income funds or bond funds. Bond funds itself can be categorized into two such as taxable bond funds (government bond, sovereign bond, high yield bond, etc), and municipal bond funds. Municipal bond funds are also known as non-taxable bond funds. These Muni bond funds invest in variety of municipal debts that are tax exempt from federal tax rate.

Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund (ARTQX) Investor Class

US Domestic stock funds have been outperforming the international stock funds. One of the top rated US stock funds is Artisan Mid Cap Value fund. This best equity fund invests in medium sized US companies. Details fund review can be found below.

Artisan Mid Cap Value Investor (ARTQX)

The investment objective of Artisan Mid Cap Value fund is to seek maximum long-term capital growth. This Artisan equity fund invests mainly in medium-sized U.S. companies. This means the company has a market capitalization greater than the market capitalization of the smallest company in the Russell Midcap Index and < 3 times the weighted average market capitalization of companies in that index.

Fund Details

Artisan Mid Cap Value Investor

• Fund Inception Date: 03/28/2001
• Ticker Symbol: ARTQX (Investor Class)
• CUSIP: 04314H709
• Beta (3yr): 1.00
• Rank in category (1yr): 2%
• Category: Mid Cap Value
• Yield: 0.60%
• Net Assets: $ 7.1 Billion
• Sales Load: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 1.20%
• Capital Gains: N/A
• Number of Years Up: 7 years
• Number of Years Down: 2 years

Updated on 1/5/2012

Top Performer Taxable Bond Mutual Funds of 2011

One of the top performer asset classes of Mutual Fund for year 2011 is taxable bond funds. Almost any classes of taxable bond and non-taxable bond funds had beaten the stock funds especially international stock funds. This article will look into the top performer taxable bond funds of 2011. Some of the top performers are: DoubleLine Core Fixed Income N, William Blair Income N, Vanguard Long-Term Bond Index, PIMCO Global Bond (USD-Hedged) A, and more.

Top Performer Bond Funds 2011

There are varieties of taxable bond funds such as intermediate term bond fund, long term bond fund, government bond fund, high yield bond fund, multisector bond fund, world bond fund, and so on. I’ll provide the 5 top performers of each class. More details can be found below.

Note: Although the performance of these funds is outstanding, future performance is not a guarantee. Please review this fund in details. I also provide the tables which show the fund performance in 1 year, 3 year, 5 year, and 10 years.

PIMCO All Asset Fund (PASAX) Class A

PIMCO bond mutual funds are among the top mutual fund for investor to invest in. Pimco CEO Mohamed El-Erian and PIMCO CIO Bill Gross are among the top fund managers managing various mutual funds offered by PIMCO. One of the top balanced funds offered by PIMCO is PIMCO All Asset A (PASAX) fund.

PIMCO All Asset A (PASAX)

The PIMCO All Asset A fund primary objective is to seek maximum real return, consistent with real capital preservation and prudent investment management. This Hybrid fund typically invests all of its assets in Institutional Class or Class M shares of other PIMCO funds except the All Asset All Authority fund, Global Multi-Asset and the RealRetirement funds. This balanced fund is classified as non-diversified mutual fund, however it invests in diversified underlying holdings.

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: 04/30/2003
• Ticker Symbol: PASAX
• CUSIP: 72200Q711
• Beta (3yr): 0.71
• Rank in category (YTD): 18%
• Category: World Allocation
• Distribution Rate: 7.32%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.76%
• Sales Load: 3.75%
• Net Assets: $ 24.25 billion
• Number of Years Up: 6 years
• Number of Years Down: 1 year
• Annual Turnover Rate: 77%

Updated on 1/4/2012

Top Performer International Stock Mutual Funds of 2011

This next article will look into the top performer International stock funds of 2011. I have divided them into different groups such as International Diversified large company, global stock, diversified emerging markets stock, international small and mid-size company, and regional/single country stock. The list included the top 5 performer funds from each class. Some of the top performer funds include: Virtus Emerging Markets A, Morgan Stanley Global Infrastructure A, MFS International Value A, and more.

Top International Stock Funds of 2011

I’ll provide more details about the fund review in my future articles. Please note, depending upon the fund’s management style, the individual fund may be value stock fund, growth stock fund, or blend stock fund. These equity funds may have sales load, higher expense ratio, actively managed fund. Investor can find additional information from the fund’s website or prospectus. I may have reviewed some of these top performers previously.

Note: International Stock Funds are funds which invest in company outside of United States such as Europe, Japan, BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China), Canada, Australia, Singapore, Korea, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and so on.

latest: Best International Large Cap Stock Mutual Funds 2012

Top Performer US Domestic Stock Mutual Funds of 2011

The following article will look into the top performer US stock funds of 2011. I have divided them into different groups such as large cap, mid cap, and small cap. The list included the top 5 performer from each group. Among the top performer funds are: Touchstone Premium Yield Equity A, Akre Focus Fund Retail Class, Virtus Small-Cap Sustainable Growth A, James Small Cap, and more.

Top Performer Fund of 2011

Majority of these funds invest their assets in US Companies such as small cap, mid cap, and large cap. Depending upon the fund’s management style, the individual fund may be growth stock fund, value stock fund, or blend stock fund.

These equity funds may have sales load, higher expense ratio, actively managed or passively managed fund. Please check the fund’s website or prospectus for additional details. I may have reviewed some of these top performers. If you are interested in other fund's category, please check my next articles.

Top Large Company Stock Funds

The Top Performer US Large Company Stock Funds of 2011 are:

1. Touchstone Premium Yield Equity A (TPYAX)
2. Federated Strategic Value Dividend A (SVAAX)
3. Payden Value Leaders (PYVLX)
4. Sequoia Fund (SEQUX)
5. Copley Fund (COPLX)

No	Fund Name	Symbol	1-YR Return	3-YR Return	5-YR Return	10-YR Return	Vol Rank	Redemption Fee	Expense Ratio
1	Touchstone Premium Yield Equity A	TPYAX	15.25%	14.93%	-	-	2	5.75%	1.20%
2	Federated Strategic Value Dividend A	SVAAX	14.48%	12.35%	-0.46%	-	2	5.50%	1.05%
3	Payden Value Leaders	PYVLX	14.35%	15.16%	-1.48%	2.56%	4	2.00%*	0.80%
4	Sequoia Fund	SEQUX	13.19%	15.99%	4.30%	5.58%	3	none	1.00%
5	Copley Fund	COPLX	12.96%	7.37%	-1.41%	2.76%	1	2.00%*	1.85%

updated on 12/31/2011

Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund (ODMAX) Class A

One of the top emerging markets equity mutual funds is Oppenheimer Developing Markets A (ODMAX) fund. This stock fund is rated as the best fund for the long term investor by Morningstar. One of the top stock holdings is America Movil SAB de CV which is the largest Mexican telecommunication company. Details about the fund review can be found below.

Oppenheimer Developing Markets A (ODMAX)

The investment objective of Oppenheimer Developing Markets fund is to provide capital appreciation aggressively. This Oppenheimer stock fund primarily invests in common stocks of issuers in emerging and developing markets throughout the world. This top stock fund may invest <100% of total assets in foreign securities. It typically invests >80% of net assets, including any borrowing, in equity securities of high growth potential issuers whose principal activities are in >3 developing markets.

Fund Details

ODMAX fund

• Fund Inception Date: 11/18/1996
• Ticker Symbol: ODMAX
• CUSIP: 683974109
• Beta (3yr): 1.01
• Rank in category (YTD): 32%
• Category: Diversified Emerging Markets
• Distribution: 0.16%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 1.30%  
• Net Assets: $ 21.13 billion
• Number of Years Up: 9 years
• Number of Years Down: 5 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 34%

Updated on 1/4/2011