Tag Archives: ffidx

5 Strong Buy Large-Cap Blend Funds To Boost Your Portfolio

Risk-averse investors interested in both growth and value investing may opt for large-cap blend mutual funds to achieve their objective. While large-cap funds usually provide a safer option than small-cap and mid-cap funds, blend funds provide significant exposure to both growth and value stocks. Blend funds – also called “hybrid funds” – aim for value appreciation by capital gains. It owes its origin to a graphical representation of a fund’s equity style box. Meanwhile, large-cap blend funds have exposure to large-cap stocks, providing long-term performance history and assuring more stability than what mid cap or small caps offer. Generally, companies with market capitalization of more than $10 billion are considered large cap firms. However, due to their significant international exposure, large-cap companies might be affected by a global downturn. Below, we share with you 5 top-rated, large-cap blend mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and we expect the fund to outperform its peers in the future. Selected American Shares Fund S (MUTF: SLASX ) seeks to provide capital appreciation and income. SLASX invests a large chunk of its assets in securities of domestic companies. SLASX primarily invests in common stocks of companies with market capitalization of more than $10 billion. The Selected American Shares S fund has a three-year annualized return of 13.7%. SLASX has an expense ratio of 0.94% as compared to the category average of 1.04%. Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Fund (MUTF: NMIMX ) invests the major portion of its assets in common stocks of companies that are included in the S&P 500 Index. NMIMX may also invest in convertible securities and other derivatives, which are expected to provide returns similar to the index. Numbers and weight of NMIMX may fluctuate in order to provide higher return, compared to that of the index. The Columbia Large Cap Enhanced Core Z fund has a three-year annualized return of 15.7%. As of August 2015, NMIMX held 116 issues with 4.56% of its assets invested in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) Fidelity Fund (MUTF: FFIDX ) seeks capital growth over the long run. FFIDX primarily focuses on acquiring common stocks of companies located throughout the globe. FFIDX may also invest a notable share of its assets in bonds, which also include non-investment grade debt securities. FFIDX uses a “blend” strategy while investing in securities. Though FFIDX invests in stocks of companies irrespective of their market cap, it invests the major share of its assets in securities of large-cap companies. The Fidelity Fund has a three-year annualized return of 13.9%. John D. Avery is the fund manager of FFIDX since 2002. Goldman Sachs US Equity Insights Fund A (MUTF: GSSQX ) maintains a diversified portfolio by investing the lion’s share of its assets in equity securities that are issued in the US, including securities of non-US companies that are traded in the US. Currently, GSSQX invests more than 70% of its assets in securities of large-cap companies to achieve both long-term capital appreciation and dividend income. GSSQX may also invest in fixed income generating securities. The Goldman Sachs US Equity Insights A fund has a three-year annualized return of 15.5%. GSSQX has an expense ratio of 0.97% as compared to the category average of 1.04%. VALIC Company I Large Cap Core Fund (MUTF: VLCCX ) seeks capital appreciation over the long run with the prospect for current income. VLCCX invests the majority of its assets in common stocks of companies having large-size market capitalization. VLCCX invests in securities that are believed to be undervalued with a strong growth potential over the long term. VLCCX may invest a maximum of 20% of its assets in securities of foreign issuers. The VALIC Company I Large Cap Core fund has a three-year annualized return of 16.2%. Guy W. Pope is the fund manager of VLCCX since 2011. Original Post

Large Cap Funds: Active Versus Passive

By Todd Rosenbluth In the first half of 2015, investors pulled $22 billion out of large-cap core U.S. equity mutual funds, but added $19 billion to S&P 500® Index-linked mutual funds. While this confirms that active management is losing share to passive, we think there are still strong active large-cap mutual funds to choose from. According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, just 23% of all large-cap core active funds outperformed the S&P 500 Index in the three-year period ended 2014 . (It is not possible to invest directly in an index, and index returns do not reflect expenses an investor would pay). On an equal-weighted basis, the average large-cap fund’s 18.6% three-year annualized return lagged the S&P 500 index by approximately 180 basis points. These performance challenges are not rare, as just twice in the past ten calendar years more than 50% of actively managed funds have beaten the “500”. A separate S&P Dow Jones study revealed how hard it is for those large-cap funds that outperformed to continue to do so. Indeed, just 4.5% of the outperformers in the 12-month period ended March 2011 maintained their top-half ranking in each of the four subsequent 12-month periods. The S&P Dow Jones Indices studies highlight that you would be better off with an index-based large-cap offering than choosing an average active fund. In fact there are many below-average performers. For example, the Davis New York Venture Fund (MUTF: NYVTX ) is among the biggest large-cap core funds, yet it lagged peers in four of the five last five calendar years. Indeed, NYVTX and its sister share classes had $2.8 billion of outflows in the first half of 2015. Of course, nobody aims to invest in a below-average mutual fund. S&P Capital IQ’s mutual fund rankings incorporate holdings-based analysis as well as a review of a fund’s relative track record and cost factors. We find 30 large-cap funds meet our criteria, though some of multiple share classes of the same portfolio. The list of funds included the American Century Equity Growth Fund (MUTF: BEQGX ), the Fidelity Fund (MUTF: FFIDX ), the T. Rowe Price Growth & Income Fund (MUTF: PRGIX ), and the Vanguard Growth & Income Fund (VNQPX). S&P Capital IQ hosted a client webinar on active versus passive strategies on Tuesday, August 4, but you can listen to a replay http://t.co/4KDPwLW9Aj . Reports on the aforementioned mutual funds and ETFs can be found on MarketScope Advisor. Disclosure: © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2015. Indexology® [link “Indexology®” to http://www.indexologyblog.com/] is a trademark of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (SPDJI). S&P® is a trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones® is a trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, and those marks have been licensed to S&P DJI. This material is reproduced with the prior written consent of S&P DJI. For more information on S&P DJI and to see our full disclaimer, visit www.spdji.com/terms-of-use [make sure this appears hyperlinked].