YTD Top Performer Exchange Traded Funds May 2012

This post will look into the year to date top performer exchange trade funds up to May 6th, 2012. Some of the best performer funds are Market Vectors Vietnam ETF, First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index, Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF, etc.

Intro

Exchange Traded Funds are unlike mutual funds. These ETFs are traded like stocks. They are also similar to closed end funds (CEFs). Most of the funds are index funds. Like mutual funds, ETFs are categorized into two main categories such as bond ETF, and stock ETF.

Some of the popular ETFs sponsors are Vanguard, BlackRock (iShares), and StateStreet (SPDR). These fund families have several popular ETF such as Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (VWO), SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (EFA), etc. You can purchase these ETFs from stock brokers such as TD Ameritrade, Lightspeed, Fidelity, Schwab, etc.

Best Performing ETFs

As described before, this article will look into the year to date top performing exchange traded funds. Similar to top performer mutual funds, most the best performers are international stock ETF especially emerging markets stock ETF. There are also some sector ETFs and European stock ETF. You can find the details from the table below.

YTD Top Performer Exchange Traded Funds of May 2012 are:

1. Market Vectors Vietnam ETF (VNM)
2. First Trust NYSE Arca Biotech Index (FBT)
3. Market Vectors Egypt Index ETF (EGPT)
4. iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction (ITB)

Year to Date Top Performer Mutual Funds May 2012

The following year to date top performer mutual funds are Forward International Real Estate fund, Fairholme fund, Nile Pan Africa fund, etc. These mutual funds have managed to achieve great return up until May 6th, 2012.

Intro

Mutual Funds are one of the most popular investment funds in the world. Investors can choose mutual funds to diversify their portfolio into many different sectors such as stocks, bonds, convertible, preferred, money market, etc.

From this top performers list, you may observe stock mutual funds have outperformed bond mutual funds. These stock funds can be divided into two main classes such as U.S. domestic stock fund and International stock funds. Most of the international stock funds have managed to achieve higher return for the first half of the year especially the emerging markets stock funds.

On the domestic stock front, growth stock fund has been the top performer fund. Another top performer sectors are: global real estate, technology, health, etc.  More details about best performing funds can be found below.

Year to Date Top Performer Mutual Funds of May 2012 are:

1. Forward International Real Estate A (KIRAX)
2. Fairholme (FAIRX)
3. Nile Pan Africa A (NAFAX)
4. Berkshire Focus (BFOCX)
5. Biondo Focus Investor (BFONX)
6. EP Asia Small Companies A (EPASX)

Year to Date Top Performer Closed End Funds May 2012

This article will provide the YTD top performer closed end funds. Some of the top performer close end funds are: Thai Capital Fund, DH Financial Trends Fund, Alpine Global Premier Property fund, etc.

Closed End Funds are traded like stocks and exchange traded funds. They may invest in stocks, bonds, convertibles, preferreds, investment funds, etc. Investor can buy these closed end funds through secondary market such as NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), and AMEX. Investor can buy these CEFs from regular brokerages such as Charles Schwab, Zecco Trading, Lightspeed Trading, Interactive Brokerage, Fidelity, E*Trade, etc.

The following top performers list has been sorted based on its year-to-date return up until May 6th, 2012. You will find fund review information, news, and more.

The YTD Top Performer Closed End Funds of May 2012 are:

1. Thai Capital Fund Inc (TF)
2. Thai Fund Inc (TTF)
3. DH Financial Trends Fund (DHFT)
4. Foxby Corp (FXBY)
5. Alpine Global Premier Property (AWP)
6. Cornerstone Strategic Value (CLM)
7. Engex (EGX)
8. BlackRock EcoSolutions (BQR)
9. Cornerstone Total Return (CRF)
10. H&Q Life Sciences Investors (HQL)

1. Thai Capital Fund (Ticker: TF)

This Thai Capital Fund objective is to provide long term capital appreciation by investing in equity and unlisted securities of Thai companies. Its total net assets are $44 million. As of May 2012, the fund market price is trading 5.59% discount to the fund NAV. The fund sponsor is Daiwa SB Investments. It also has an annual expense ratio of 2.48%.

Brown Advisory Flexible Value A (BAFVX) Fund

Majority of investor portfolios typically have one element in common; the largest asset class is typically allocated to large cap stocks especially growth stocks. One of the most popular investor’s choices is investing in the large cap mutual funds. The Brown Advisory Flexible Value fund is classified as large blend stock mutual fund. More review about this fund below.

Brown Advisory Flexible Value A (BAFVX)

The Brown Advisory Flexible Value fund seeks to achieve long-term capital growth. This stock fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities, especially in ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). This fund may invest in investment grade and non-investment grade debt securities or unrated debt securities determined by the Advisor to be of comparable quality.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 01/24/2007
• Ticker Symbol: BAFVX
• CUSIP: 74316J508
• Beta (3yr): 0.93
• Rank in category (YTD): 93%
• Category: Large Blend
• Distribution: 0.19%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 1.35%  
• Net Assets: $ 34.26 million
• Number of Years Up: 3 years
• Number of Years Down: 1 year
• Annual Turnover Rate: 33%

Updated on 05/04/2012

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