Scout International Fund (UMBWX)

Scout International Fund (MBWX) is a foreign large growth mutual fund. It focuses its investment on non-U.S. companies’ stocks.

Scout International Fund (Ticker: UMBWX)

The investment aim of Scout International Fund is to provide long-term capital growth and income. The fund utilizes its assets to purchase a diversified portfolio of established non-U.S. companies’ equities. It may invest in investments in developing countries or emerging markets. The current shares price is $31.90 (9/26/2012).

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: September 13, 1993
• Ticker Symbol: UMBWX
• CUSIP: 81063U503
• Beta (3yr): 0.96
• Rank in category (YTD): 31%
• Category: Foreign Large Growth
• Distribution: 1.52%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.99%
• Net Assets: $ 7.87 billion
• Number of Years Up: 13 years
• Number of Years Down: 5 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 20%

Updated on 10/01/2012

Best Performing High Yield Municipal Bond Mutual Funds 2012

The best performing high yield municipal bond mutual funds up to September 23, 2012 are Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond fund, Pioneer High Income Municipal, etc.

Best Performing High Yield Muni Mutual Funds 2012

High yield muni mutual funds invest most of its assets in lower rated municipal bonds. These bond funds provide tax free high yield income for investors. They usually provide the distribution yield regularly (i.e. monthly or quarterly). They have higher risk than investment grade municipal bond funds.

From this best performing funds list, you may find each individual fund review. You can find the fund performance, expense ratio, and yield or dividend from the table below. The list is sorted based on its year to date performance in 2012 (up to September 23, 2012).

The 10 top performer high yield municipal bond mutual funds 2012 are:

1. Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond Fund (NHMAX)
2. Pioneer High Income Municipal Fund (PIMAX)
3. Oppenheimer AMT-Free Municipals Fund (OPTAX)
4. Lord Abbett High Yield Municipal Bond Fund (HYMAX)
5. MainStay High Yield Municipal Bond Fund (MMHVX)

Permanent Portfolio Fund (PRPFX)

Permanent Portfolio Fund is a conservative allocation balanced mutual fund. It focuses its investment on stocks and bonds. The fund review can be found in this post.

Permanent Portfolio (Ticker: PRPFX)

The Permanent Portfolio fund objective is to preserve and increase the buying power value of its shares over the long term. The fund uses its assets to buy investment categories: gold, silver, Swiss franc assets, stocks of U.S. and foreign real estate and natural resource companies, aggressive growth stocks and dollar assets such as U.S. Treasury securities and short-term corporate bonds.

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: Nov 30, 1982
• Ticker Symbol: PRPFX
• CUSIP: 714199106
• Beta (3yr): 0.86
• Rank in category (YTD): 53%
• Category: Conservative Allocation
• Distribution: 0.86%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.71%
• Net Assets: $ 18.05 billion
• Number of Years Up: 25 years
• Number of Years Down: 4 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 8.87%

Updated on 9/28/2012

Best China Region Stock Mutual Funds 2012

The 6 best china region stock mutual funds 2012 are Matthews China Fund, Templeton China World A, etc. This is part of international stock fund.

Best Chinese Stock Mutual Funds 2012

The China region mutual fund is part of international stock mutual fund. This China region stock fund invests primarily in stocks from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This China region fund is one of the world fastest-growing regions for the past decade.

These top China region mutual funds are selected based on its expense ratio fee, turnover rate, management, fund performance, etc. You can find the fund review and fund performance or return below.

The 6 best china region stock mutual funds 2012 are:

1. Matthews China Fund (MCHFX)
2. Templeton China World Fund (TCWAX)
3. Fidelity China Region Fund (FHKCX)
4. Aberdeen China Opportunities Fund (GOPAX)
5. Invesco China Fund (AACFX)
6. Guinness Atkinson China & Hong Kong Fund (ICHKX)

Updated on 09/26/2012

Best Latin America Stock Mutual Funds 2012

The 5 best Latin America Stock Mutual Funds 2012 are BlackRock Latin America fund, Fidelity Latin America fund, etc. Find top performer equity funds.

Top Latin America Equity Mutual Funds

Latin America stock mutual funds invest mainly in equities from Latin America. These funds invest in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Columbia, Paraguay, Bolivia, etc. Some of the funds are also investing in debt obligations or bonds.

This Latin America mutual fund is part of international stock mutual fund. The risks are higher for investment. If you seek to achieve long term growth, these funds are suitable for you.

Best Latin America Stock Mutual Funds 2012 are:

1. Fidelity Latin America Fund (FLATX)
2. JPMorgan Latin America Fund (JLTAX)
3. T. Rowe Price Latin America Fund (PRLAX)
4. BlackRock Latin America Fund (MDLTX)
5. DWS Latin America Equity Fund (SLANX)

Updated on 9/4/2012

Franklin High Yield Tax-Free Income Fund (FRHIX) Class A

This Franklin High Yield Tax-Free Income fund is part of high yield municipal bond mutual fund. It invests in non-investment grade muni bonds and its income is exempted from federal tax rate.

Franklin High Yield Tax-Free Income A (FRHIX)

The investment objective of Franklin High Yield Tax-Free Income fund is to provide investors with a high current yield exempt from federal income taxes and capital appreciation. This mutual fund normally focuses its investment in securities whose interest is free from federal income taxes and alternative minimum tax (AMT). The fund may invest in municipal bond rated in any rating category.

Franklin High Yield Tax Free Income

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: March 18, 1986
• Ticker Symbol: FRHIX
• CUSIP: 354723702
• Beta (3yr): 1.37
• Rank in category (YTD): 81%
• Category: High Yield Muni
• Yield: 4.93%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.63%
• Net Assets: $ 8.61 billion
• Number of Years Up: 21 years

Best Performing Conservative Allocation Mutual Funds 2012

The 10 best performing conservative allocation mutual funds 2012 are API Efficient Frontier Income Fund, JPMorgan Income Builder, Franklin Income, etc.

Top Performer Balanced Funds 2012

As part of balanced fund, conservative-allocation mutual fund seeks to provide both capital appreciation and income for investors. It focuses its assets in 3 major areas: stocks, bonds, and cash. This fund has higher fixed income portion in its portfolio (about 50-70%). It also has lower risk than other balanced mutual funds such as aggressive allocation fund, moderate allocation fund, and world allocation fund.

The best performing funds are selected based on its year to date return. Its performance has been stellar for 2012. You can find the fund review, management information, expense fee, sales load, etc. I also provide the table for the fund performance below.

The 10 best performing conservative allocation mutual funds 2012 are:

1. API Efficient Frontier Income Fund
2. JPMorgan Income Builder Fund
3. Thrivent Diversified Income Plus Fund
4. Toews Hedged Growth Allocation Fund
5. Principal Global Global Diversified Income Fund
6. IMS Strategic Income Fund
7. Pioneer Multi Asset Income Fund
8. Kinetics Multi-Disciplinary Advisor Fund
9. Franklin Income Fund
10. Natixis Diversified Income Fund

You can check my previous article about top performer conservative allocation funds 2011.