Prudential High-Yield A (PBHAX) Fund

One of the great features of high yield bond fund is it provides high yield of income to investors. This high yield can be great incentive for investors who seek consistent income stream. One of this top rated high yield bond funds is Prudential High-Yield fund. This fixed income fund has a yield of 7.61%. This dividend yield is paid monthly. More review about this fund can be found below.

Prudential High Yield A (PBHAX)

This Prudential High Yield fund invests mainly in a diversified portfolio of high-yield fixed-income securities rated Ba or lower by Moody’s or BB or lower by Standard & Poor’s. The fund management may also invest in bond with comparable quality (i.e. junk bonds).

Fund Profile

Prudential High Yield

• Fund Inception Date: 01/22/1990
• Ticker Symbol: PBHAX (Class A)
• CUSIP: 74440Y108
• Beta (3yr): -0.20
• Rank in category (2011): 19%
• Category: High Yield Bond
• Distribution: 7.58%
• Net Assets: $ 2 Billion
• Sales Load: 4.5%
• Expense Ratio: 0.88%
• Capital Gains:  N/A
• Number of Years Up: 15 years
• Number of Years Down: 6 years
• Average Maturity: 4.3 years
• Average Duration: 3.3 years

Updated on 2/9/2011

Burnham Fund (BURHX)

The following is the review of Burnham fund. This stock fund is recognized as the top rated U.S. stock fund by Morningstar and Lipper Rating. It invests in large companies’ stocks or blue chip companies. More details can be found below.

Burnham A (Ticker: BURHX)

This Burnham fund invests in a diverse portfolio primarily consisting of common stocks. It invests in large-capitalization stocks (Market cap >$11 billion). These companies are known as blue chip companies and are usually well-established companies. Under typical market conditions, the fund intends to remain fully invested with only minimal investments in cash or short- term debt instruments.

Fund Profile

Burnham A fund profile

• Fund Inception Date: 06/16/1975
• Ticker Symbol: BURHX (Class A)
• CUSIP: 122315203
• Beta (3yr): 0.82
• Rank in category (2011): 5%
• Category: Large Blend
• Yield: 0.0%
• Net Assets: $ 101 Million
• Sales Load: 5.00%
• Expense Ratio: 1.51%
• Capital Gains: N/A
• Number of Years Up: 29 years
• Number of Years Down: 7 years

Updated on 2/11/2012

Top 10 Best High Yield Bond Mutual Funds 2012

High Yield bond mutual funds offer an attractive valuation for investors. It also provides higher income. This fund typically has a higher risk profile than investment grade bond fund. Some of the best high yield bond mutual funds are: PIA High Yield Investor, Ivy High Income, Neuberger Berman High Income Bond Inv, etc.

Top High Yield Bond funds

Intro

High yield bonds can provide investors a reasonable amount of risk in search of high income levels. This type of bonds mostly represents corporate bonds with low ratings (i.e. non-investment grade or junk rating). Mutual funds are the best option to invest in these instruments. By investing in a well-diversified portfolio of mutual fund, investors may successfully lower the associated risk.

Best Performers

The following list has been compiled by sorting through its performance for the past 5 years. Most of these High Yield Bond funds are also rated among the best in their class. Please check details about its performance, expense ratio, sales load, initial investment requirement, risk, top holdings, etc.

Based on 5 years performance, Top 10 Best High Yield Bond Mutual Funds of 2012 are:

1. PIA High Yield Investor (PHYSX)
2. Ivy High Income A (WHIAX)
3. Neuberger Berman High Inc Bond Inv (NHINX)
4. PACE High Yield A (PHIAX)
5. TIAA-CREF High-Yield Retail (TIYRX)
6. Allianz AGIC High Yield Bond A (AYBAX)
7. Metropolitan West High Yield Bond M (MWHYX)
8. Touchstone High Yield Y (THYYX)
9. Fidelity Capital & Income (FAGIX)
10. Fifth Third High Yield Bond A (FTYAX)

Updated on 2/8/2012

Aberdeen International Equity A (GIGAX) Fund

Year 2011 has not been a good year to many international stock funds. Most funds have a negative return. Using a contrarian view, year 2012 may provide good opportunity for value investor to invest in these funds. As the top rated fund, Aberdeen International Equity fund managed to rank in the top 2% among its peers in 2011. Details about this fund review can be found below.

Aberdeen International Equity A (Symbol: GIGAX)

Aberdeen International Equity fund

The Aberdeen International Equity A fund’s objective is to achieve long term capital appreciation. This Aberdeen fund invests in stocks issued by companies that are located in, or that derive a substantial portion of their earnings or revenues from, a number of countries around the world other than the United States. This GIGAX fund may also invest in developing market countries. This best stock fund may invest in common stock, preferred stock, securities convertible into common stock or securities.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 08/30/2000
• Ticker Symbol: GIGAX
• CUSIP: 003019445
• Beta (3yr): 1.04
• Rank in category (2011): 2%
• Category: Foreign Large Blend
• Distribution Rate: 2.22%
• Net Assets: $463 million
• Sales Load: 5.75%
• Expense Ratio: 1.57%
• Capital Gains: N/A
• Number of Years Up: 7 years
• Number of Years Down: 4 years

Updated on 02/04/2012

Vanguard Target Retirement 2010 Fund (VTENX)

Vanguard Group offers wide range of low cost mutual funds. It also provides life cycle funds or target date funds or age-based funds. These target date funds are similar to regular balanced funds. Depending upon its category, it will allocate its assets in bonds, stocks and cash. One of the Vanguard life cycle funds is Vanguard Target Retirement 2010 fund.

Vanguard Target Retirement 2010 Inv (VTENX)

The investment objective of Vanguard Target Retirement 2010 fund is seeking to provide growth of capital and current income. The fund primarily invests in other Vanguard mutual funds according to an asset allocation strategy designed for investors planning to retire within a few years of 2010. It distributes about 50% of assets to stocks and 50% of assets to bonds & money market instruments. The fund’s asset allocation will become more conservative over time. Over time, the bonds and other fixed income portion in its asset will increase and the stocks portion will decrease.

Fund Profile

Vanguard Target Retirement 2010

• Fund Inception Date: 06/07/2006
• Ticker Symbol: VTENX
• CUSIP: 92202E706
• Beta (3yr): 0.95
• Rank in category (2011): 8%
• Category: Target Date 2000-2010
• Yield: 2.65%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.17%  
• Net Assets: $ 5.13 billion
• Number of Years Up: 4 years
• Number of Years Down: 1 year
• Average Duration: 5.87 years
• Average Maturity: 7.81 years

Updated on 02/03/2012

Allianz AGIC Convertible A (ANZAX) Fund

As the top rated convertible bond mutual fund, Allianz AGIC Convertible A fund offers an alternative investment choice for investors. This convertible bond fund provide a choice for investor a fixed income investment with coupon payments (yield) and chance to benefit from an increase in the company’s stock. Details review about this best fund is described below.

Allianz AGIC Convertible A (ANZAX)

Allianz AGIC Convertible A (ANZAX) fund seeks maximum total return which consist of capital appreciation and current income. The fund invests most of its net assets (>80%) in convertible securities. The investment may include corporate bonds, debts, notes or preferred stocks, and their hybrids. It may invest in securities of any size market capitalization or credit quality. It may rarely invest a significant amount of its assets in securities of smaller companies. The fund also invests <20% of net assets in nonconvertible debt securities.

ANZAX Fund Profile

Allianz AGIC Convertible

• Fund Inception Date: 04/12/2010
• Ticker Symbol: ANZAX
• CUSIP: 01900C680
• Beta (3yr): 1.06
• Rank in category (2011): 6%
• Category: Convertibles
• Yield: 2.70%
• Expense ratio: 0.96%
• Sales Load: 5.50%
• Total Assets: $656.6 million
• Capital Gains: $1.573 (2011)
• Number of Years Up: 12 years (Class I)
• Number of Years Down: 6 years (Class I)

Updated on 2/1/2012

Top 12 Best Precious Metals Mutual Funds 2012

Investing in Precious metals can be used as a hedge against economic crisis or turmoil. One of the easiest way to invest in this precious metals category is by choosing mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and closed end funds (CEFs). I’ll focus on precious metals mutual funds. The best performing funds include Tocqueville Gold, Van Eck International Investors Gold A, First Eagle Gold A, etc.

Reasons to Invest

There are several reasons to invest in precious metals funds such as:

Top Precious Metals Mutual Funds

• The precious metals funds can provide portfolio diversification against other asset classes such as stock funds or bond funds. There is very little correlation against stocks or bonds. It may outperform other asset classes.
• The funds can provide a hedging tool against uncertain time such as economic crisis, inflation, etc.
• Investors can select well known management to manage their investment through various precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. It is less costly than investing in precious metals directly.

Best Funds

The following top performer funds list has been compiled by sorting through its performance for the past 5 years. Most of these precious metals equity funds are also rated among the best fund in their category. I have provided each of these top performing fund review such as its performance, sales load, expense ratio fee, initial investment requirement, risk, top sectors, rating, top holdings or top stocks, turnover rate, etc.

The Top 12 Best Precious Metals Mutual Funds of 2012 are:

1. Tocqueville Gold (TGLDX)
2. Van Eck Intl Investors Gold A (INIVX)
3. First Eagle Gold A (SGGDX)
4. USAA Precious Metals and Minerals (USAGX)
5. Franklin Gold and Precious Metals A (FKRCX)
6. Oppenheimer Gold & Special Minerals A (OPGSX)
7. OCM Gold Investor (OCMGX)
8. Wells Fargo Advantage Precious Metals B (EKWBX)
9. GAMCO Gold AAA (GOLDX)
10. Invesco Gold & Precious Metals Investor (FGLDX)
11. Fidelity Select Gold (FSAGX)
12. American Century Global Gold Inv (BGEIX)

Updated on 2/4/2012