Best Vanguard ETFs for 2015

Finding best ETFs for 2015 is essential. The following will look into best Vanguard exchange traded funds. There are several of sector fund, U.S. stock fund, bond fund, international stock fund, etc.

Popular Vanguard ETFs

We review rankings from Morningstar, Lipper, Zacks, TheStreet.com, U.S. News, and Standard & Poor’s. You can learn from our methodology from variety of our previous articles. You can also find the 1 year average returns of these best exchange traded funds from this list.

Best Vanguard ETFs for 2015 are:

• Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR)
• Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC)
• Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE)
• Vanguard Extended Market ETF (VXF)
• Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG)
• Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM)
• Vanguard Intermediate-Term Bond ETF (BIV)
• Vanguard Large-Cap ETF (VV)
• Vanguard Long-Term Government Bond ETF (VGLT)
• Vanguard Materials ETF (VAW)
• Vanguard Mega Cap ETF (MGC)
• Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK)

AllianceBernstein Income Fund (ACG)

AllianceBernstein Income Fund (ACG) is an actively managed closed end fund. The fund’s objective is to provide high current income and capital appreciation. This fixed income fund utilizes its assets to purchase high yielding government and corporate fixed income securities.

ACG Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 08/28/1987
• Ticker Symbol: ACG
• CUSIP: 01881E101
• Rank in category (YTD): 26%
• Category: Taxable Income - Government
• Yield: 5.57%
• Effective Leverage: 32.30%
• Capital Gains: -
• Premium/ Discount: -10.35%
• Base Expense Ratio: 0.57%
• Net Assets: $ 2.90 billion
• Annual Turnover Rate: 107.0%

AllianceBernstein Income Fund managed by Paul J. DeNoon, Gershon Distenfeld, Doug Peebles, and Kewjin Yuoh. This popular closed end fund has a high yield of 5.57%. This taxable bond fund has total annual expense ratio fee of 0.62% (including interest expense of 0.06%).

Best Allianz Mutual Funds 2015

Allianz Global Investors is part of Allianz. Allianz Global Investors is a diversified active investment manager, managing EUR 345 billion in assets for individuals, families and institutions worldwide. It offers mutual funds, managed accounts, closed end funds, institutional strategies, offshore funds, and premier Multi-Series VIT.

We review rankings from Morningstar, Lipper, Zacks, TheStreet.com, U.S. News, and Standard & Poor’s. You can learn from our methodology from variety of our previous articles.

Popular Allianz Global Investors Funds

You can find these popular Allianz Global Investors funds for different sectors such as U.S. stock fund, international stock fund, municipal bond fund, balanced fund, target date fund, taxable bond fund. Depend on your risk tolerance; you may pick and choose from this best mutual funds list.

Best Allianz mutual funds 2015 are:

• AllianzGI Ultra Micro Cap Fund (GUCAX)
• AllianzGI Global Water Fund (AWTAX)
• AllianzGI NFJ Small-Cap Value Fund (PCVAX)
• AllianzGI Focused Growth Fund (PGWAX)
• AllianzGI Global Growth Allocation Fund (ASGAX)
• AllianzGI Global Natural Resources Fund (ARMAX)
• AllianzGI Convertible Fund (ANZAX)
• AllianzGI Income & Growth Fund (AZNAX)

Will Oil Stocks Outperform Airlines Stocks in 2015?

Will oil stocks outperform airlines stocks in 2015? No one knows this answer. However based on probability, oil stocks should outperform airlines stocks in 2015 due to their value. Top performing stocks in week 4 of 2015 are Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing, Major Airlines, etc.

This post will look into the top performing stocks, industry, and sector. The S&P 500 index has a weekly return of 1.62%. NASDAQ Composite has a weekly return of 2.66%. Dow Jones Industrials Average has a weekly return of 0.94%. The small cap (Russell 2000) has a return of 1.05%.

Oil vs. Airline Stocks

Best weekly performance of industry stocks of week 4, 2015 (January 19, 2015 – January 25, 2015) are:

1. Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing 11.45%
2. Major Airlines 11.32%
3. Regional Airlines 10.10%
4. Diversified Communication Services 9.96%
5. Publishing – Books 9.43%
6. Specialty Eateries 8.88%
7. Photographic Equipment & Supplies 7.99%
8. Catalog & Mail Order Houses 7.73%
9. Synthetics 7.44%
10. Internet Information Providers 6.74%

Top Performing Bank Loan Mutual Funds 2015

Bank loan mutual funds invest mainly in floating rate bank loan taken on by corporations or companies. Bank loan funds typically have little interest rate risk due to its shorter duration. These funds may provide high yield income for investors.

Floating Rate Funds

The top performing list is sorted based on the 3 month performance up until Jan 22, 2015. Investors can find the review and other fund information such as expense ratio, fund manager, yield, turnover rate, sales load, top holdings, top sectors, etc.

Top performing bank loan mutual funds 2015 are:

1. Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund (HFRAX)
2. DoubleLine Floating Rate Fund (DLFRX)
3. First Trust Short Duration High Income Fund (FDHAX)
4. Sound Point Floating Rate Income Fund (SPFRX)
5. Transamerica Floating Rate Fund (TFLAX)
6. PIMCO Senior Floating Rate Fund (PSRPX)

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK)

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK) is an international stock exchange traded fund. This index ETF uses its assets to purchase stocks of companies located in major markets of Europe. This fund will invest in companies located in Austria France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and more.

This equity fund is tracking the return of the FTSE Developed Europe Index since 2013, before it is tracking MSCI Europe Index. This equity fund has high potential for growth, but also high risk.

VGK Fund Profile

• Fund Inception Date: 03/04/2005
• Ticker Symbol: VGK
• CUSIP: 922042874
• Rank in category (YTD): 37%
• Category: Europe Stock
• Yield: 3.16%
• Capital Gains: -
• Expense Ratio: 0.10%
• Total Assets: $ 14.0 billion
• Annual Turnover Rate: 28%

Updated May 2017

The fund manager is Gerard C. O'Reilly since 2008. It has a low expense fee of 0.10%. The current dividend yield is 4.28%. The share price is valued at $53.68. This popular ETF has large assets of $18 billion.

Best Performing Short Term Government Bond ETFs 2015

Short term government bond ETFs are investing in high quality U.S. treasury bonds with short duration such as 1-3 years. These taxable exchange traded funds are less volatile than long duration bond funds. The yield from this fund is also smaller than other bond funds due to its shorter duration.

Popular Bond ETFs

These top short government ETFs in 2014 are sorted based on its 1 year return. You can find the fund details and review below. Some of these ETFs can be bought for free from variety of brokerages such as Fidelity, Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and Vanguard.

Best performing short term government bond ETFs 2015 are:

1. SPDR Barclays Short Term Treasury ETF (SST)
2. Vanguard Short-Term Government Bond ETF (VGSH)
3. iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY)
4. Schwab Short-Term US Treasury ETF (SCHO)
5. PIMCO 1-3 Year U.S. Treasury ETF (TUZ)