The Top Funds Over Five Years: Finding Common Themes in a Volatile Market
by Charles Rotblut, CFA
The past five years have truly tested the skills of mutual fund managers.
The equity markets went from boom to bust to rebound. The bond markets also fluctuated, especially in the high-yield spectrum. Emerging markets enjoyed strong economic growth. Then there were the commodity markets, which saw a bubble and a bust in the same calendar year.
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The upside to this is that investors now have a recent track record to judge how a fund performed in varying types of markets. Did the fund react well to rising markets? Are the losses experienced during the recent bear market acceptable? Can the fund consistently beat its benchmark, or is its performance dictated solely by the type of conditions the manager is facing?
These are all important questions to consider when evaluating a fund. Though the temptation might be to pick a fund based on its five-year performance, the reality is that the fund could experience large variances on a year-to-year basis. Therefore, take a close look at the annual returns and the volatility. Not every fund is suitable for every investor.
Table 1 presents the mutual funds with the best five-year performance overall and for each category as culled from AAII’s “Individual Investor’s Guide to the Top Mutual Funds” (sent to all members in February).
To read more, please become an AAII Registered User or CLICK HERE.
Discussion
Table 1 is a blank dark grey blob. The background color needs to be much lighter. So far I've found this to be the case quite often on the AAII website.
I'm using a laptop with an LCD screen.
posted over 2 years ago by D. from Maryland
The columns for annual total returns show only the years through 2009. Shouldn't this chart show 2010 through 2012 too. Please correct or explain. Thanks
posted 19 days ago by James Cogil from Iowa
James - this article is from 2010, that's why the data stops at 2009. The newest list of best 5-year funds was published in the March 2013 AAII Journal and can currently be found at the AAII Journal page: http://www.aaii.com/journal
Here's the direct link to the article:
http://www.aaii.com/journal/article/the-top-mutual-funds-over-five-years-the-bears-claw-marks-remain
--Jean from AAII
posted 13 days ago by Jean Henrich from Illinois
