Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Fund (VFISX) Investor Shares

Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Fund (VFISX) is another popular taxable bond mutual fund. This investor shares fund focuses its assets in short term maturity government bonds.

Vanguard Short-Term Treasury Fund (Ticker: VFISX)

The Vanguard Short-Term Treasury fund objective is to seek current income while maintaining limited price volatility. The mutual fund invests majority assets (>80%) in U.S. Treasury securities. It may invest in bills, bonds, and notes issued by the U.S. Treasury. It will maintain a dollar-weighted average maturity of 1 to 4 years.

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: 10/27/1991
• Ticker Symbol: VFISX
• CUSIP: 922031703
• Beta (3yr): 0.45
• Rank in category (YTD): 68%
• Category: Short Government
• Distribution: 0.54%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.20%
• Net Assets: $ 6.50 billion
• Number of Years Up: 19 years
• Number of Years Down: 1 year
• Annual Turnover Rate: 302%

Updated on 12/7/2012

Fidelity Series Investment Grade Bond Fund (FSIGX)

Fidelity Series Investment Grade Bond Fund (Ticker: FSIGX) is a taxable bond mutual fund. This fixed income fund invests in high quality bonds.

Fidelity Series Investment Grade Bond Fund (FSIGX)

The investment aim of Fidelity Series Investment Grade Bond fund is to achieve high current income level. It uses its assets to purchase investment-grade debt securities. It uses overall interest rate risk to the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. This fixed income fund may invest in domestic and foreign issuers. It may invest in lower-quality debt securities or high yield bonds.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: Oct 8, 2008
• Ticker Symbol: FSIGX
• CUSIP: 316146729
• Beta (3yr): 0.96
• Rank in category (YTD): 65%
• Category: Intermediate-Term Bond
• Distribution: 2.81%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.45%
• Net Assets: $ 24.05 billion
• Number of Years Up: 3 years
• Number of Years Down: 0 years
• Average Duration: 4.9 years
• Average Maturity: 6.9 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 213%

Updated on 12/05/2012

Best Performer High Yield Bond Closed End Funds 2012

The best performer high yield bond closed end funds 2012 are First Trust High Income Long/Short Fund, BlackRock Strategic Bond Fund, Credit Suisse High Yield Bond Fund, etc. These CEFs provide high yield.

YTD Top Performer CEFs

High yield bond closed end funds invest most of its assets in lower rated corporate bonds. These bond funds provide high yield regular income. These bond funds also provide capital appreciation for investors. The fund’s average duration is about 3 to 6 years.

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 December 2, 2012).

Best performer high yield bond closed end funds 2012 are:

1. First Trust High Income Long/Short Fund (FSD)
2. Invesco Van Kampen High Income II Fund (VLT)
3. Helios Strategic Income Fund (HSA)
4. Helios Advantage Income Fund (HAV)
5. BlackRock Strategic Bond Fund (BHD)
6. Credit Suisse High Yield Bond Fund (DHY)
7. First Trust Strategic High Income 2 Fund (FHY)
8. Western Asset High Yield Defined Opportunity Fund (HYI)
9. Helios Multi-Sector High Income Fund (HMH)
10. BlackRock Senior High Income Portfolio Fund (ARK)

Updated on 12/3/2012

Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund (VTTHX)

Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Fund (VTTHX) is a target date 2031-2035 mutual fund. This balanced fund invests in stocks, bonds, and cash.

Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 Inv (VTTHX)

The Vanguard Target Retirement 2035 fund objective is to provide capital appreciation and current income according to its current asset allocation. The mutual fund mainly invests in other Vanguard mutual funds. It uses an asset allocation strategy designed for investors planning to retire and leave the work force in or within a few years of 2035 (the target year). Its asset allocation will become more conservative over time. This means that the assets allocated to stocks will decrease while the assets allocated to bonds and other fixed income investments will increase.

Fund Details

• Fund Inception Date: Oct 26, 2003
• Ticker Symbol: VTTHX
• CUSIP: 92202E508
• Beta (3yr): 1.48
• Rank in category (YTD): 32%
• Category: Target Date 2031-2035
• Yield: 2.03%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.00%
• Net Assets: $ 13.76 billion
• Number of Years Up: 6 years
• Number of Years Down: 2 years
• Average Duration:  5.11 years (bond portion)
• Average Maturity:  7.10 years (bond portion)
• Annual Turnover Rate: 18%

Updated on 12/5/2012

Top Performer Small Growth Stock Mutual Funds 2012

The top performer small growth stock mutual funds 2012 are Buffalo Micro Cap fund, ASTON Small Cap Growth fund, PNC Small Cap etc.

Best Performer Small Growth Mutual Funds

Small growth mutual fund invests mainly in fast growing small company in United States. The market capitalization is usually lower than $300 million. The fund favors companies in up and coming fields or young corporates on their early growth stages. These small cap stock mutual funds are typically very volatile than large cap stock mutual funds. They do provide higher chances for capital growth as well.

These top performer small growth mutual funds are sorted based on its performance in 2012. You can find the fund review information such as expense ratio, turnover rate, yield, performance, management, etc.

The 10 Top performer small growth mutual funds 2012 are:

1. Buffalo Micro Cap (BUFOX)
2. ASTON Small Cap Growth N (ACWDX)
3. Federated Kaufmann Small Cap A (FKASX)
4. PNC Small Cap A (PPCAX)
5. Wasatch Micro Cap Value (WAMVX)
6. MFS New Discovery A (MNDAX)
7. PNC Multi Factor Small Cap Core A (PLOAX)
8. Invesco Small Cap Growth Investor (GTSIX)
9. Oppenheimer Discovery A (OPOCX)
10. Wanger USA (WUSAX)

Updated on 12/2/2012

MainStay Convertible Fund (MCINX)

MainStay Convertible Fund (Ticker: MCINX) is a balanced mutual fund. This fund focuses on convertible securities including bonds, corporate notes, and preferred stocks.

MainStay Convertible Investor (MCINX)

The investment objective of MainStay Convertible fund is to provide capital appreciation and current income. The fund utilizes its assets to purchase convertible securities such as bonds, debentures, corporate notes, and preferred stocks or other securities. It may also invest in non-convertible debt, dividend equity stocks, U.S. government securities, and cash.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: February 28, 2008
• Ticker Symbol: MCINX
• CUSIP: 56062X526
• Beta (3yr): 1.32
• Rank in category (YTD): 70%
• Category: Convertibles
• Distribution: 1.85%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 1.19%
• Net Assets: $ 710.07 million
• Number of Years Up: 2 years
• Number of Years Down: 1 year
• Effective Duration: 4.2 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 80%

Updated on 12/2/2012

Vanguard Small Cap Value Index Fund (VISVX) Investor Shares

Vanguard Small Cap Value Index Fund (VISVX) is a US stock mutual fund. It focuses its assets mainly in undervalued small U.S. companies.

Vanguard Small Cap Value Index Fund (Ticker: VISVX)

The Vanguard Small Cap Value Index Fund objective is to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of small-capitalization value stocks. The mutual fund is tracking its benchmark, the MSCI US Small Cap Value Index. This index is a broadly diversified index of value stocks of smaller U.S. companies.

Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 05/20/1998
• Ticker Symbol: VISVX
• CUSIP: 922908793
• Beta (3yr): 1.22
• Rank in category (YTD): 23%
• Category: Small Value
• Distribution: 1.85%
• Capital Gains: 0%
• Expense Ratio: 0.24%
• Net Assets: $ 7.24 billion
• Number of Years Up: 9 years
• Number of Years Down: 4 years
• Annual Turnover Rate: 30%

Updated on 11/29/2012