June 21, 2012

Legg Mason Western Assets Managed Municipals SHMMX Fund

One of top muni bond mutual funds is Legg Mason Western Assets Managed Municipals fund. This fixed income fund is classified as muni national long bond fund. It also has a tax free yield of 4.28%.

Legg Mason Western Assets Managed Municipals A (SHMMX)

The investment objective of Legg Mason Western Assets Managed Municipals fund is to maximize current interest income that is exempted from gross income for regular federal income tax purposes with consistent prudent investment management and to achieve capital preservation. This bond mutual fund invests >80% of assets in intermediate-term and long-term municipal securities with maturities from 1 to >30 years at the time of purchase.

Fund Details
SHMMX fund
  • Fund Inception Date: March 4, 1981
  • Ticker Symbol: SHMMX
  • CUSIP: 52469J202
  • Beta (3yr): 1.28
  • Rank in category (YTD): 21%
  • Category: Muni National Long
  • Distribution Rate: 4.28%
  • Capital Gains: 0%
  • Expense Ratio: 0.64%

June 19, 2012

Best No Load Retirement Income Balanced Mutual Funds 2013

The best no load retirement income balanced mutual funds for 2013 are American Beacon Retire Income & Appreciation, Vanguard Target Retirement Income fund, T. Rowe Price Retirement Income, etc.

Top Retirement Income Funds

Retirement income mutual funds are part of target date balanced funds. Retirement income funds offer a combination of equities, fixed income securities, and cash equivalent for investors already in or entering retirement age. The funds are managed based on a conservative asset allocation strategy. This means this fund may hold higher portion of assets in bonds and short term cash.

Best No Load Retirement Income Balanced Mutual Funds 2013The following top retirement income funds are chosen based on its long term track record. It also doesn’t have a sales load or transaction fee. You can buy this fund through your brokerage such as Scottrade, Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, JPMorgan, etc. I also provide the fund review below. Most of these funds are affordable among many investors due to low initial investment requirement.

The 6 Best No Load Retirement Income Balanced Mutual Funds for 2013 are:
  1. American Beacon Retire Income & Appreciation Inv (AANPX)
  2. Vanguard Target Retirement Income Inv (VTINX)
  3. American Century LIVESTRONG Inc Inv (ARTOX)
  4. T. Rowe Price Retirement Income (TRRIX)
  5. Fidelity Freedom Income (FFFAX)
  6. Vantagepoint Milestone Retirement Income (VPRRX)

American Beacon Retirement Income & Appreciation (AANPX)

This American Beacon Retirement Income and Appreciation fund objective is to provide income and capital appreciation. It uses its assets to purchase investment grade bonds, convertible and non-convertible securities, and stocks. The sub-advisors are Aerican Beacon Advisors, Inc and Calamos Advisors LLC. Its dividend yield is 2.32%. The annual expense ratio is 1.1%.

The fund’s assets are allocated as follow: fixed income (78.1%), convertible obligations (12.2%), equity (6.1%), and cash equivalent (3.6%). For the fixed income portion, it has weighted average maturity of 6.8 years. Morningstar ranks this balanced fund with 3 stars. It has a 5 years annualized return of 5.38%.

Vanguard Target Retirement Income (Ticker: VTINX)

The Vanguard Target Retirement Income fund invests majority of its assets in other Vanguard mutual funds based on an asset allocation strategy designed for retiree. Duane F. Kelly is the fund manager since 2003. This no load target date mutual fund has a yield of 2.53%. The total net assets are $8.5 billion. Its expense ratio is only 0.17% per year.

You can buy this gold rated retirement income fund with $1,000 initial investment. The fund has an investment style of large blend. As of June 2012, the top 5 holdings are Vanguard Total Bond Market II Index, Vanguard Total Stock Market Index, Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities, Vanguard Total International Stock Index, and Vanguard Prime Money Market.

American Century LIVESTRONG Income (ARTOX)

The investment aim of American Century LIVESTRONG Income fund is to seek income and capital growth through investment in other American Century mutual funds. It has $372 million of total assets. It also has an above average expense ratio fee of 0.75%. It opens to new investors.

This best retirement income mutual fund has returned 4.18% over the past 1 year, 9.65% over the past 3 year, and 3.43% over the past 5 year. The year-to-date return is 3.78%.

T. Rowe Price Retirement Income (MUTF: TRRIX)

This T. Rowe Price Retirement Income fund is ranked with gold rating by Morningstar. It has $2.6 billion of total assets. It utilizes its assets to buy other T. Rowe Price stock and bond funds depending upon its asset allocation. The expense ratio is 0.56%. Its annual holding turnover rate is 12.5%.

This retirement income fund has an average 3 year return of 8.89%. As of June 2012, the top 5 sectors are technology, financial services, industrials, consumer cyclical, and energy. The top 3 funds in its portfolio are T Rowe Price Inflation Focused Bond (29.68%), T Rowe Price Equity Index 500 (24.33%), and T Rowe Price New Income (17.91%).

Fidelity Freedom Income (FFFAX)

Fidelity Freedom Income FundThis Fidelity Freedom Income fund objective is to achieve high income and capital growth. It utilizes its assets to purchase a mix of Fidelity domestic equity funds, international equity funds, bond funds, and short-term funds. The fund managers are Chris Sharpe and Andrew Dierdorf. The distribution yield is 1.59%. Its investment style is large growth. The fund’s CUSIP number is 31617R308.

This 3 star rated retirement income balanced fund has its 1 year best total return in 2009 with 16.12%. The fund has returned 7.16% over the past 3 year, and 4.04% over the past decade.

Vantagepoint Milestone Retirement Income (VPRRX)

The Vantagepoint Milestone Retirement Income fund has an expense ratio of 0.85%. The holding turnover rate is 19%. Its yield is 1.85%. This best balanced fund is managed by Lee Trenum, Wayne Wicker, and David J. Braverman.

As of June 2012, the 3 year beta risk is 0.50. The top 3 sectors are financial services, industrials, and technology.

Disclosure: No Position

Fund Performance
NoFund DescriptionTickerExpensesYTD Return %1 Year Return %3 Year Return %5 Year Return %10 Year Return %
1American Beacon Retire Income & Appreciation AANPXLow2.25%3.03%6.86%5.38%-
2Vanguard Target Retirement Income VTINXAverage3.15%5.30%9.17%4.93%-
3American Century LIVESTRONG Inc ARTOXAbove Average3.78%4.18%9.65%3.43%-
4T. Rowe Price Retirement Income TRRIXAbove Average3.16%1.56%8.89%3.13%-
5Fidelity Freedom IncomeFFFAXLow2.43%2.04%7.16%3.11%4.04%
6Vantagepoint Milestone Retirement Income VPRRXBelow Average2.36%2.22%6.98%2.99%-

June 18, 2012

American Funds AMCAP A (AMCPX) Fund

As one of the largest mutual funds family, American Funds provide wide selection of mutual funds. One of the top rated and popular mutual funds is American Funds AMCAP A fund. This fund is part of large growth US stock mutual fund. It invests in US companies with great growth potential. More fund review can be found below.

American Funds AMCAP A (AMCPX)

The investment objective of this American Funds AMCAP fund is to achieve long-term capital growth. This fund utilizes its assets to purchase U.S. companies common stocks with solid long-term growth records and the potential for good future growth. This fund uses a team of fund advisors to manage its assets.

Fund Profile
  • Fund Inception Date: May 1, 1967
  • Ticker Symbol: AMCPX
  • CUSIP: 023375108
  • Beta (3yr): 1.06
  • Rank in category (YTD): 79%
  • Category: Large Growth
  • Distribution Rate: 0.35%

June 17, 2012

YTD Best Performing Closed End Funds June 2012

The Year-To-Date best performing closed end funds up until June 15, 2012 are Firsthand Technology Value, Thai Capital Fund, Nuveen Mortgage Opportunity Term, PIMCO Municipal Income, etc.

year-to-date top performer closed-end fund 2012 logoIntro

One of the investment funds is closed end fund or CEF. A closed-end fund is traded like stock in a stock exchange such as NYSE or the NASDAQ. It consists of a variety of securities such as stocks, bonds, and combination between the two.

The following article is about the top performer for domestic stock CEF, international stock CEF, taxable bond fund, and municipal bond fund. They may include sector equity, preferred stock, option strategy, growth fund, emerging markets stock, global stock, high yield, mortgage bond, bank loan, tax free municipal.

Top Stock CEF’s

YTD Best performer general equity closed end funds of June 2012 are:
  1. Firsthand Technology Value (SVVC) - 26.80%
  2. Nuveen Tax-Advantage Float Rate (JFP) - 26.59%
  3. H&Q Life Sciences Investors (HQL) - 26.25%
  4. Diamond Hill Financial Trends (DHFT) - 20.92%
  5. First Trust Specialty Finance & Financial Opportunities (FGB) - 20.36%
  6. Alpine Global Premier Property (AWP) - 20.18%
  7. H&Q Healthcare Investors (HQH) - 18.8%
  8. Cohen & Steers Quality Income Realty (RQI) - 18.61%
  9. Cohen & Steers Select Preferred & Income (PSF) - 17.83%
  10. Cornerstone Strategy Value (CLM) - 17.82%

June 16, 2012

Top 10 Natural Resources Mutual Funds 2012

Find top 10 natural resources mutual funds 2012, best materials stock mutual funds for investment. The top natural resources stock funds are Fidelity Select Materials, Van Eck Global Hard Assets, Franklin Natural Resources, etc.

Intro

If you are interested in sector stock mutual funds, you can pick variety of sectors. These sector equities include communications, health care, natural resources, real estate, technology, etc. The natural resources mutual funds invest in companies that are engaged in the extractive industries or services of natural resources. Extraction is commonly defined as mining, logging, and drilling for oil and gas.

Natural resources include precious metals (gold, silver, and diamond), ferrous and nonferrous metals, strategic metals, hydrocarbons, chemicals, paper and forest products, real estate, food, textile and tobacco products, and other basic commodities.

Best Natural Resources Funds

These top natural resources sector funds are chosen based on its long term performance. You may find other fund information such as dividend yield, top stocks, fund manager, fund objective, etc.

Top 10 Natural Resources Mutual Funds of 2012 are:
  1. Fidelity Select Materials (FSDPX)
  2. Van Eck Global Hard Assets A (GHAAX)
  3. Franklin Natural Resources A (FRNRX)
  4. Prudential Jennison Natural Resources A (PGNAX)
  5. BlackRock Natural Resources Investor A (MDGRX)
  6. Fidelity Select Natural Resources (FNARX)
  7. Nuveen Tradewinds Global Resources A (NTGAX)

June 15, 2012

Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 Fund (VTWNX)

The Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 fund (VTWNX) is a target date balanced mutual fund. This fund is popular among investors with retirement account (IRA) or 401(k) account.

Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 Investor (VTWNX)

The investment aim of Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 fund is to provide capital appreciation and current income consistent with its asset allocation. This investment fund utilizes its assets to purchase other Vanguard mutual funds according to an asset allocation strategy. It is suitable for investors about to retire and leave the work force in or within the target year of 2020.

Note: Its asset allocation will become more conservative over time.

Fund Details
Vanguard VTWNX fund
  • Fund Inception Date: June 7, 2006
  • Ticker Symbol: VTWNX
  • CUSIP: 92202E805
  • Beta (3yr): 1.09
  • Rank in category (YTD): 42%
  • Category: Target Date 2016-2020
  • Yield: 2.18%
  • Capital Gains: 0%
  • Expense Ratio: 0.00%
  • Net Assets: $ 14.18 billion
  • Number of Years Up: 4 years
  • Number of Years Down: 1 year
  • Annual Turnover Rate: 23.00%
Updated on 6/14/2012

June 13, 2012

Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund (LWEAX) Class A

Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund (LWEAX) is a taxable bond mutual fund. This emerging markets bond fund invests in debts issued by emerging markets governments or corporations.

Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt A (Ticker: LWEAX)

The Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt fund objective is to maximize total return. This fund uses its majority of assets to purchase fixed-income securities issued by governments and corporations located in emerging markets. It may invest in non-U.S. dollar denominated bonds.

Fund Profile
    Western Asset Emerging Markets Debt Fund information
  • Fund Inception Date: January 13, 2010
  • Ticker Symbol: LWEAX (Class A)
  • CUSIP: 52469L694
  • Beta (3yr): 0.82
  • Rank in category (YTD): 72%
  • Category: Emerging Markets Bond
  • Yield: 4.37%
  • Capital Gains: 0%
  • Expense Ratio: 1.25%
  • Net Assets: $ 138.23 million
  • Number of Up Years: 1 year
  • Number of Down Years: 0 year
  • Annual Turnover Rate: 16.00%
Updated on 6/13/2012

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