Top 10 Foreign Small and Mid Cap Stock Mutual Funds 2012

Some of top foreign small / mid cap stock mutual funds are: Driehaus International Small Cap Growth fund, Templeton Institutional Foreign Smaller Company fund, etc. These international stock funds are investing in small cap & mid cap non-U.S. companies stocks. Additional fund review can be found below.

Intro

These Foreign Small and Mid Cap Stock funds seek principal appreciation by investing in small- and mid-sized international stocks which are value- or growth- oriented. Small-and mid-cap stocks have market capitalizations less than $10 billion. It typically uses the MSCI EAFE Index as its benchmark. These stock mutual funds may invest in U.S. stocks or emerging markets stocks.

Best Foreign Small / Mid-Cap Funds

These best foreign small / mid cap mutual funds are selected based on its long term performance. You will find other fund review information such as fund objective, management, top holdings, dividend yield, performance, top sectors, beta or risk, etc.

Top 10 Foreign Small and Mid Cap Stock Mutual Funds of 2012 are:

1. First Eagle Overseas A (SGOVX)
2. Driehaus International Small Cap Growth (DRIOX)
3. Templeton Institutional Foreign Smaller Company Series A (TFSCX)
4. Westcore International Small Cap (WTIFX)

Top 10 High Yield Corporate Bond Closed End Funds 2012

The top high yield bond closed end funds of 2012 are: PIMCO High Income, Dreyfus High Yield Strategies, Pioneer High Income Trust, etc. These bond closed End funds are traded like stocks or ETFs (exchange traded funds).

Intro

There two main types of income closed end funds: tax-free income closed end funds and taxable income closed end funds. Tax free bond CEFs mainly invest in municipal bonds while taxable bond CEFs include taxable corporate and government bond funds, and senior loan funds.

Corporate bonds are issued by companies to finance their business activities and usually being rated by credit agencies such as S&P’s, Moody’s, and Fitch. There are two main types of corporate bonds such as investment grade corporate bond and high yield corporate bond. High Yield bonds typically have lower credit ratings or not rated. These bonds usually have a higher risk of default than investment grade bonds. It also provides high yield to its investor as well.

Best High Yield CEFs

Based on its performance for the past 5 years, the 10 best high yield bond closed end funds of 2012 are:

1. PIMCO High Income (PHK)
2. Dreyfus High Yield Strategies (DHF)
3. Pioneer High Income Trust (PHT)
4. AllianceBernstein Global High Income (AWF)
5. Invesco High Yield (MSY)

Fidelity Freedom 2020 Fund (FFFDX)

Fidelity Freedom 2020 fund is part of Target Date Mutual Funds. This target date funds are available to investors who invest in their retirement account such as 401k, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, 403b, etc. This balanced fund automatically adjusts its assets as the time progress (i.e. bonds portion will be higher as time progress). You may get the fund review below.

Fidelity Freedom 2020 (Ticker: FFFDX)

The investment aim of Fidelity Freedom 2020 fund is to provide high total return until its target retirement date. This mutual fund invests in a blend of underlying Fidelity domestic equity funds, international equity funds, bond funds, and short-term funds. It will use a moderate asset allocation strategy designed for investors expecting to retire around the year 2020. It uses an asset allocation strategy that becomes increasingly conservative over time.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: Oct 17, 1996
• Ticker Symbol: FFFDX
• CUSIP: 31617R605
• Beta (3yr): 1.15
• Rank in category (YTD): 43%
• Category: Target Date 2016-2020

Top 5 Brokerage Firms for Mutual Funds Investment

There are many options to invest in mutual funds nowadays. Investors can choose either a discount broker or mutual fund companies to invest. There are pros and cons with each option. Some of the top brokerages for mutual fund investing are: Vanguard, Fidelity, Scottrade, etc.

Best Mutual Fund Brokerages

Intro

Whether you are investing in your regular brokerage account or retirement account, you may find mutual funds as your investment selection. To invest in these investment funds, regular investors can open a brokerage account or a mutual fund account directly from mutual fund companies.

For brokerage account, you can choose either open an account with a discount broker or a full brokerage. I’ll focus on discount brokers; hence they are accessible to most small investors. Several discount brokerages (such as Zecco Trading, Scottrade, E*trade) offer some great selections of mutual funds with low cost to purchase. You may also find a discount broker that offers no-transaction fee mutual funds.

Another alternative is by opening an account directly with the mutual fund company itself. Some of the well-known mutual funds companies are Fidelity, Vanguard, and T. Rowe Price, etc. Vanguard and Fidelity are the best ranked mutual funds companies in the U.S. These mutual funds companies also offer great selection of their fund family at low cost and no transaction fee. It also provides other crucial fund information such as performance, rating, expense fee, fund research, newsletter, etc.

Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX) Investor Shares

Vanguard Total International Stock Index fund is part of Vanguard index mutual funds. This international stock mutual fund are popular among investors. You can find the fund review below.

Vanguard Total International Stock Index Investor (Ticker: VGTSX)

The investment aim of Vanguard Total Intl Stock Index fund is to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks issued by companies located in developed and emerging markets, excluding the United States. This Vanguard fund is designed to track the performance of the MSCI All Country World ex USA Investable Market Index. The index includes more than 6,000 stocks of companies located in 44 countries.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: April 29, 1996
• Ticker Symbol: VGTSX
• CUSIP: 921909602
• Beta (3yr): 1.05
• Rank in category (YTD): 25%
• Category: Foreign Large Blend
• Yield: 2.62%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.22%
• Net Assets: $ 270.60 billion
• Number of Years Up: 9 years

Top 10 Best Mid Cap Domestic Stock Mutual Funds 2012

Investing in mid cap mutual funds are known as “sweet spot” investment. Investor can participate in companies business with market cap between $2 billion and $10 billion. Some of the best mid cap stock mutual funds are: Scout Mid Cap, Brown Capital Management Mid-Cap, ING Mid Cap Opportunities, etc.

Intro

As part of stock mutual fund, domestic stock fund has three main categories such as large cap fund, mid cap fund, and small cap fund. Each category invests in different type of companies. For example, mid cap stock fund invest mainly in medium sized companies. These medium sized companies mean the companies have a market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion.

Depending upon the fund’s objective, some mutual funds may invest in other companies’ sizes. The reasons to invest in these mid cap stock mutual funds are: these equity funds have higher growth potential than large cap mutual funds, less coverage from analysts which can provide a surprise upside, and less risky than small cap mutual funds.

Brown Capital Management Small Company Inv BCSIX Fund

Investing in the small growth mutual fund has been very rewarding for investor. As part of growth fund, this mutual fund mainly invests in small cap company with high growth potential. One of the best small growth funds is Brown Capital Management Small Company fund. You will find the fund review below.

Brown Capital Management Small Company Investor (BCSIX)

The Brown Capital Management Small Company fund objective is to achieve long-term capital appreciation and providing current income. This mutual fund mostly invests its assets in companies stocks with total operating revenues of $250 million or less. It usually invests in common stocks, but may invest in preferred stocks, convertible bonds, and warrants.