State Farm Tax Advantaged Bond Fund (TANAX) Class A

State Farm Tax Advantaged Bond A (TANAX) fund is a municipal bond mutual fund. It provides tax free income for investors by investing in a diversified portfolio of muni bonds. You can find the fund review below.

State Farm Tax Advantaged Bond A (Ticker: TANAX)

The investment aim of State Farm Tax Advantaged Bond fund is to seek a high income rate exempt from federal income taxes with prudent investment management. The fund utilizes its asset to invest in a diversified selection of municipal bonds. The fund may hold bonds with maturities of 1 to 30 years.

Fund Details

State Farm Tax Advantaged Bond

• Fund Inception Date: April 30, 2006
• Ticker Symbol: TANAX
• CUSIP: 85-6853650
• Beta (3yr): 0.97
• Rank in category (YTD): 96%
• Category: Muni National Long
• Yield: 2.94%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.68%
• Net Assets: $ 400.11 million
• Number of Years Up: 5 years
• Number of Years Down: 0 years
• Average Maturity: 11.9 years
• Modified Duration: 5.52 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 10%

Updated on 9/14/2012

6 Best Emerging Markets Bond ETFs 2012

The best emerging markets bond ETFs of 2012 are PowerShares Emerging Markets Sovereign Debt ETF, iShares JPMorgan USD Emerging Markets Bond, etc.

Best Emerging Market Debt ETFs

Investing in emerging markets can be done either through bond or stock. Choosing emerging markets bond provide less risk for investors than emerging markets stock. This EM bond also has higher yield than other taxable bond.

One of investment choice is using exchange traded fund or ETFs. Other alternatives include mutual fund, closed end fund, and individual stock / bond. Currently, there are about 14 ETFs in this emerging markets bond category. The fund sponsors include iShares, State Street, Invesco PowerShares, Guggenheim, Van Eck Global, WisdomTree, etc. The expense ratios are in the range of 0.39% and 0.60%.

Several advantages of emerging markets debt investment:

• This investment funds provide high yield income for investors
• Investors may get emerging markets currencies exposure such as Yuan (China), Singapore Dollar (SGD), Brazillian Reals, Mexican Peso, etc.

25 Best Performing Closed End Funds List September 2012

The 25 best performing CEFs 2012 list. The top funds are Alpine Global Premier Properties Fund, Thai Fund, etc.

Top Performer CEFs 2012

Closed end funds (CEFs) are mutual funds with a fixed amount of shares (or units). They are similar to exchange traded funds (ETFs). They can be bought and sold on stock exchanges (NYSE and NASDAQ). These investment funds can be traded at a discount or premium to the Net Asset Value (NAV).

From this list, you may find lots of sector equity funds are the top performers. The top performing sectors include: real estate, mortgage bond, emerging markets, high yield bond, corporate bond, etc. You can find the fund performance, expense ratio, and yield or dividend from the table.

The 25 best performing CEF 2012 List are:

1. Alpine Global Premier Properties Fund (AWP)
2. Nuveen Mortgage Opportunity Term Fund 2 (JMT)
3. Nuveen Mortgage Opportunity Term Fund (JLS)
4. H&Q Life Sciences Investors Fund (HQL)
5. Thai Fund (TTF)
6. Western Asset Mortgage Defined Opportunity Fund (DMO)
7. Turkish Investment Fund (TKF)
8. First Trust Specialty Finance and Financial Opportunities Fund (FGB)
9. PIMCO Global Stocksplus & Income Fund (PGP)
10. LMP Real Estate Income Fund (RIT)

Southern Sun Small Cap Fund (SSSFX) Investor Shares

Southern Sun Small Cap fund is a domestic stock mutual fund. This equity fund invests mainly in stocks of U.S. small companies. You can find the fund review.

Southern Sun Small Cap Investor (Ticker: SSSFX)

The investment aim of Southern Sun Small Cap fund is to achieve long-term capital appreciation. The fund utilizes the majority of assets to purchase in small cap securities. It uses the Russell 2000 Index as its benchmark in selecting the companies for investment. It may invest in 20-40 companies according to the fund management style.

Fund Details

Southern Sun Small Cap

• Fund Inception Date: 09/30/2003
• Ticker Symbol: SSSFX
• CUSIP: 66537T190
• Beta (3yr): 1.47
• Rank in category (YTD): 30%
• Category: Small Value
• Distribution: 0.00%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 1.33%
• Net Assets: $ 344.37 million
• Number of Years Up: 7 years
• Number of Years Down: 1 year
• Annual Turnover Rate: 38%

updated on 9/8/2012

Top 6 Preferred Stock or Convertible Bonds Exchange Traded Funds 2012

The top 6 preferred stock or convertible bonds exchange traded funds of 2012 are iShares S&P US Preferred Stock Fund, PowerShares Preferred, SPDR Barclays Capital Convertible Bond ETF, etc.

Best ETFs

Best ETFs

If you are an income-seeking investor, you might want to consider preferred stock / convertible bonds ETFs. These ETFs invests mainly in preferred securities or convertible bonds. The ETFs provide higher yield for investors and lower risk than typical stock funds.

There are currently about 10 ETFs in this preferred stock / convertible bonds category. The fund sponsors include iShares, State Street, Invesco PowerShares, Van Eck Global, Global X etc. The expense ratios are in the range of 0.40% and 0.60%.

These top ETFs are selected based on its expense ratio fee, portfolio turnover rate, management or index approach, performance, etc. You can find the fund review and comparison below.

Wasatch International Opportunities Fund (WAIOX)

Wasatch International Opportunities fund (WAIOX) is an international stock mutual fund. This foreign small / mid growth stock fund invests in non-U.S. companies. The fund review can be found below.

Wasatch International Opportunities (Ticker: WAIOX)

The investment objective of Wasatch International Opportunities fund is to provide long-term growth of capital. This equity fund mainly invests in equity securities of foreign companies with market capitalizations of <$1 billion. It may invest in companies domiciled in emerging markets and in initial public offerings (IPOs). The fund may invest in a few sectors such as industrials, consumer discretionary, information technology, materials, consumer staples, energy, financials and health care.

Fund Details

Wasatch International Opportunities 

• Fund Inception Date: January 26, 2005
• Ticker Symbol: WAIOX
• CUSIP: 936793702
• Beta (3yr): 0.94
• Rank in category (YTD): 2%
• Category: Foreign Small/ Mid Growth
• Distribution: 0.00%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 2.25%
• Net Assets: $192.47 million
• Number of Years Up: 4 years
• Number of Years Down: 2 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 108%

Updated on 9/4/2012

Best Intermediate Term Bond Exchange Traded Funds 2012

This post provides the 10 best intermediate term bond exchange traded funds of 2012. The top funds are Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF, iShares Barclays Credit Bond, etc.

Top ETFs

Top Taxable Bond ETFs

As part of taxable bond mutual fund, intermediate term bond fund invests mainly in debt obligations or bonds with intermediate term duration (i.e. duration between 5 and 10 years). These funds provide higher yield than short term bond and have higher risks than short term bond as well. There are about 16 ETFs in this intermediate term bond category. The fund sponsors are Vanguard, iShares, State Street, Guggenheim, PIMCO, Columbia, etc. The expense ratios are in the range of 0.10% and 0.35%.

These top intermediate term bond ETFs are selected based on its expense ratio fee, portfolio turnover rate, management or index approach, performance, etc. You can find the fund review and comparison below.