Fund Evaluator:

American Funds Global Balanced 529-C Overview

American Funds Global Balanced 529-C (CBFCX) is an actively managed Allocation Global Moderate Allocation fund. Capital Group launched the fund in 2011.

The investment seeks the balanced accomplishment of three objectives: long-term growth of capital, conservation of principal and current income. As a balanced fund with global scope, the fund seeks to invest in equity and debt securities around the world that offer the opportunity for growth and/or provide dividend income, while also constructing the portfolio to protect principal and limit volatility. The adviser will allocate its assets among various countries.

About American Funds Global Balanced 529-C (CBFCX)

There are 5 members of the management team with an average tenure of 8.97 years: Bradford Freer (2019), Alfonso Barroso (2013), Winnie Kwan (2013), Andrew Cormack (2019), Philip Chitty (2023). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 3 primary benchmarks: MSCI ACWI NR USD index with a weighting of 100%, Bloomberg Global Aggregate TR Hdg USD index with a weighting of 40% and MSCI ACWI NR USD index with a weighting of 60%. American Funds Global Balanced 529-C has 984 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 18.9% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

American Funds Global Balanced 529-C is part of the Allocation global asset class and is within the Allocation fund group. American Funds Global Balanced 529-C has 39.3% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 35.3%. There is 25.3% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.6% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 29.9% (15.9% domestic bond, 13.9% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). American Funds Global Balanced 529-C has 7.7% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $11 million in total assets, which is below the $947 million average for the Global Moderate Allocation category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

CBFCX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The American Funds Global Balanced 529-C expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Global Moderate Allocation category. American Funds Global Balanced 529-C has an expense ratio of 1.60%, which is 53% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a F. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. American Funds Global Balanced 529-C has a portfolio turnover rate of 50%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 64% for the Global Moderate Allocation category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, American Funds Global Balanced 529-C returned 0.9%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Global Moderate Allocation category had an average return of 0.3%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

American Funds Global Balanced 529-C has a trailing yield of 1.25%, which is below the 2.61% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

American Funds Global Balanced 529-C Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 6.4%, 1.7 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 13.2% over the past year (grade of F), 10.6% over the past three years (grade of D) and 5.0% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 5.9% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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