March 15, 2013

DFA One-Year Fixed-Income Fund (DFIHX)

DFA One-Year Fixed-Income Fund (DFIHX) is a popular taxable bond mutual fund. It invests mainly in short duration bonds.

DFA One-Year Fixed-Income Fund (DFIHX)

The investment objective of DFA One-Year Fixed-Income Fund is to seek a stable real return in excess of the rate of inflation with a minimum of risk. The mutual fund utilizes its assets to purchase a diversified of high quality fixed income securities that typically mature in one year or less. It invests in U.S. government obligations, dollar-denominated obligations of foreign issuers issued in the U.S., foreign government, and bank obligations.

The fund mainly invests in certificates of deposit (CD), commercial paper, bankers' acceptances, notes and bonds. It may concentrate its investments in obligations of U.S. and foreign banks and bank holding companies.

Fund Details
DFA One-Year Fixed-Income Fund
DFIHX fund
  • Fund Inception Date: July 24, 1983
  • Ticker Symbol: DFIHX
  • CUSIP: 233-203-603
  • Beta (3yr): 0.07
  • Rank in category (YTD): 34%
  • Category: Ultrashort Bond
  • Distribution: 0.51%
  • Capital Gains: 0%
  • Expense Ratio: 0.17%
  • Net Assets: $ 7.9 billion
  • Number of Years Up: 29 years
  • Number of Years Down: 0 years
  • Average Duration: 0.86 years
  • Average Maturity: 0.87 years
  • Annual Turnover Rate: 77.00%
Updated on 3/9/2013

March 14, 2013

Top Performing Intermediate Term Bond Mutual Funds March 2013

The top performing intermediate term bond mutual funds march 2013 are Principal Preferred Securities fund, GMO Domestic Bond III, PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond, etc.

Top Performing Intermediate Term Bond Mutual Funds
Top Performers
Top Performing Intermediate Term Bond Mutual Funds March 2013

Intermediate term bond mutual fund is part of taxable bond mutual fund. It invests mainly in investment grade government or corporate bonds with durations of 3 to 6 years. The average maturity of bonds in its holdings may vary from 4 to 10 years. This bond fund is less sensitive to interest rates than long duration fund. The yield is higher than short duration bond fund.

This top performer bond mutual fund list is sorted based on its 1 year total return performance up to March 9th, 2013. You can find the fund review, expense ratio, yield, ranking, share price, management, top holdings, credit rating, etc.

The top performing intermediate term bond mutual funds march 2013 are:
  1. Principal Preferred Securities A (PPSAX)
  2. GMO Domestic Bond III (GMDBX)
  3. PIMCO Investment Grade Corporate Bond A (PBDAX)
  4. Guggenheim Total Return Bond A (GIBAX)
  5. TCW Total Return Bond N (TGMNX)
  6. Delaware Corporate Bond A (DGCAX)
  7. Nuveen Strategic Income A (FCDDX)
  8. Leader Total Return Investor (LCTRX)
  9. PIMCO Fundamental Advantage Total Return Strategy A (PTFAX)
  10. Putnam Income A (PINCX)

March 13, 2013

10 Great 401k Mutual Funds for 2013 & 2014

The 10 great 401k mutual funds for 2013 & 2014 are PIMCO Total Return Fund, Vanguard 500 Index fund, DoubleLine Total Return Bond fund, Vanguard Wellington, etc.

401k Plan

Finding the right mutual funds for your 401k account is important. Many funds charge high fees, underperform the bond or stock market, no growth, and little yield for appreciation. The mutual funds offered to investors in 401(k) plans or accounts can be worse than regular brokerage account or traditional IRA or Roth IRA.

10 Great 401k Mutual Funds for 2013 & 2014
Best Mutual Funds for 401(k)
Due to its limitation funds offering, 401(k) plans are different from one company to another. Some companies offer flexibility to add additional funds with ease, but some may have limited option to choose from. One of the best choices is to invest the portion of your income that is being match by your company. Some companies may offer 1 to 1 match, and others may offer 2 to 1 match (up to 10% of your income).

Best Mutual Funds

Another best option is choosing a low cost index fund. This fund has low expense fee and there is no sales load. The following are some of the best mutual funds for your 401(k) account. You can find the fund review in details below. I have included the shares price, yield, expense fee, return, top holdings, etc.

Note: There are two type of 401k accounts: Roth 401k and traditional 401k.

The 10 great 401k mutual funds for 2013 & 2014 are:
  1. Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX)
  2. PIMCO Total Return Fund (PTTAX)
  3. Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFINX)
  4. DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund (DLTNX)

March 11, 2013

Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund (VISGX)

Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund (VISGX) is a passively managed domestic stock mutual fund. This mutual fund focuses its assets in equities of small size companies with high growth potential.

Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund (VISGX)

The Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund objective is to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of small-capitalization growth stocks. The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the MSCI US Small Cap Growth Index. This index is a broadly diversified index of growth stocks of smaller U.S. companies.

Fund Details
    Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index Fund
  • Fund Inception Date: May 20, 1998
  • Ticker Symbol: VISGX
  • CUSIP: 922908827
  • Beta (3yr): 1.29
  • Rank in category (YTD): 22%
  • Category: Small Growth
  • Distribution: 0.34%
  • Capital Gains: 0%
  • Expense Ratio: 0.24%
  • Net Assets: $ 9.42 billion
  • Number of Years Up: 9 years
  • Number of Years Down: 4 years
  • Annual Turnover Rate: 40%
Updated on 3/11/2013

March 9, 2013

Best Oppenheimer Mutual Funds for 2013

Best Oppenheimer mutual funds 2013, Top bond and stock fund by OppenheimerFunds. The 20 best mutual funds for 2013 are Oppenheimer Developing Markets, Oppenheimer Limited Term NY Municipal, Oppenheimer Global, Oppenheimer International Bond, etc. Best Oppenheimer Mutual Funds 2013

Top Oppenheimer Mutual Funds 2013

OppenheimerFunds Inc is part of MassMutual Financial Group. It manages more than $225 billion in assets, including mutual funds having more than 6 million shareholder accounts. John V. Murphy is the Chairman, President and CEO of this OppenheimerFunds Inc. It offers a wide selection of products and services to individual and institutional investors. Some of the products include mutual funds, managed accounts, investment management for corporations, hedge fund products, and retirement plans.

These best Oppenheimer mutual funds for 2013 are selected based on its performance history and transaction fee. These Oppenheimer funds do have a sales load. The funds are ranked with 3 star rating or higher by Morningstar. You may find the fund review below and other fund information. I also have selected my favorite funds below.

The 20 best Oppenheimer mutual funds for 2013 are:
  1. Oppenheimer Developing Markets Fund
  2. Oppenheimer Limited Term NY Municipal Fund
  3. Oppenheimer Limited Term CA Muni Fund
  4. Oppenheimer Global Fund
  5. Rochester Municipals Fund
  6. Oppenheimer International Bond Fund
  7. Oppenheimer Senior Floating Rate Fund
  8. Oppenheimer Equity Income Fund
  9. Oppenheimer International Growth Fund
  10. Oppenheimer International Diversified Fund

March 8, 2013

PIMCO Emerging Markets Bond Fund (PAEMX)

PIMCO Emerging Markets Bond Fund (PAEMX) is a taxable bond mutual fund. The mutual fund invests in emerging market debts issued by developing countries.

PIMCO Emerging Markets Bond Fund (MUTF:PAEMX)

The PIMCO Emerging Markets Bond Fund objective is to seek maximum total return, consistent with capital preservation and prudent investment management. The fund utilizes its assets to purchase Fixed Income Instruments that are economically tied to emerging market countries. It may use forwards or derivatives such as options, futures contracts or swap agreements to invest. It may invest in both investment-grade securities and junk bonds. The fund is non-diversified.

Fund Details

PIMCO Emerging Markets Bond Fund
PIMCO EM Bond Fund
  • Fund Inception Date: 07/31/1997
  • Ticker Symbol: PAEMX
  • CUSIP: 693391575
  • Beta (3yr): 0.51
  • Rank in category (YTD): 65%
  • Category: Emerging Markets Bond
  • Distribution: 3.88%
  • Capital Gains: 0%
  • Expense Ratio: 1.25%
  • Net Assets: $ 8.02 billion
  • Number of Years Up: 12 years
  • Number of Years Down: 2 years
  • Average duration: 6.30 years
  • Average maturity: 10.82 years
  • Annual Turnover Rate: 12%
Updated on 3/5/2013

March 6, 2013

Top Performing Foreign Large Growth Mutual Funds March 2013

The top performing foreign large growth mutual funds March 2013 are GMO International Growth Equity III, Laudus International MarketMasters, Oppenheimer International Growth, etc.

Best Performing Foreign Large Growth Mutual Funds 2013
Top Performing Funds 2013
Best Performing Foreign Large Growth Mutual Funds 2013

Foreign large growth mutual fund is part of international stock fund. Its portfolio focuses on high growth stocks of non U.S. companies. Most of these companies are located in developed countries or markets. The markets include Britain, France, Japan, German, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, etc. Most of the companies are large cap companies. The growth style is considered based on fast growth in term of earnings, sales, book value and cash flow. It also has high valuation like high price ratio and little to no dividend.

This top performer bond mutual fund list is sorted based on its 1 year total return performance up to February 26th. You can find the fund review, expense ratio, yield, ranking, share price, management, top holdings, credit rating, etc.

The top performing foreign large growth mutual funds March 2013 are:
  1. GMO International Growth Equity Fund (GMIGX)
  2. Laudus International MarketMasters Fund (SWOIX)
  3. Oppenheimer International Growth Fund (OIGAX)
  4. Fidelity International Capital Appreciation Fund (FIVFX)
  5. JHancock3 International Growth Fund (GOIGX)
  6. MassMutual Premier International Equity Fund (MMIAX)
  7. Virtus Foreign Opportunities Fund (JVIAX)
  8. Nuveen Santa Barbara International Grade Fund (NBQAX)

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