The following audio is from a conference call that will begin on February 18, 2015 at 09:00 AM ET. The audio will stream live while the call is active, and can be replayed upon its completion. Are you Bullish or Bearish on ? Bullish Bearish Neutral Results for ( ) Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Submit & View Results Skip to results » Share this article with a colleague
When capital appreciation over the long term takes precedence over dividend payouts, growth funds become a natural choice for investors. These funds focus on realizing an appreciable amount of capital growth by investing in stocks of firms whose value is projected to rise over the long term. However, a relatively higher tolerance to risk and the willingness to park funds for the longer term are necessary when investing in these securities. This is because they may experience relatively more fluctuations than other fund classes. Meanwhile, large-cap funds usually provide a safer option for risk-averse investors, when compared to small-cap and mid-cap funds. These funds have exposure to large-cap stocks, providing long-term performance history and assuring more stability than what mid cap or small caps offer. Below we will share with you 3 top rated large-cap growth mutual funds . Each has earned a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) as we expect these mutual funds to outperform their peers in the future. To view the Zacks Rank and past performance of all large-cap growth funds, investors can click here to see the complete list of funds . Schwab Large-Cap Growth (MUTF: SWLSX ) seeks capital appreciation over the long run. The fund invests a lion’s share of its assets in companies having market capitalizations similar to those included in the Russell 1000 Index. It utilizes Schwab Equity Ratings to select its investment. The fund may also invest all of its assets in other derivatives including cash, money market instruments and repurchase agreements in order to take a safe stance during unfavorable market conditions. The large-cap growth mutual fund has a three-year annualized return of 17.1%. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.99% as compared to category average of 1.20%. Thrivent Large Cap Growth A (MUTF: AAAGX ) invests a large portion of its assets in large-cap companies with market capitalization identical to those listed in the S&P 500/ Citigroup Growth Index, the Russell 1000 Growth Index or large-cap companies classified by Lipper, Inc. It focuses on acquiring common stocks of companies and seeks long-term capital growth. The large-cap growth mutual fund has a three-year annualized return of 17.9%. David C. Francis is the fund manager and has managed this fund since 2011. Dreyfus Large Cap Growth A (MUTF: DAPAX ) seeks capital growth over the long term. The fund invests a majority of its assets in large-cap companies having market capitalization more than $5 billion. It invests in companies having impressive earnings growth potential. It may invest a maximum of 20% of its assets in options. The large-cap growth mutual fund has a three-year annualized return of 19.2%. As of December 2014, this fund held 76 issues with 6.68% of its assets invested in Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL ). Are you Bullish or Bearish on ? Bullish Bearish Neutral Results for ( ) Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Submit & View Results Skip to results » Share this article with a colleague
With an improved economy and better employment prospects, a rate hike by the Fed is back on the table for 2015. We have already started to see rates move higher in recent weeks in anticipation of this, as benchmark 10-year debt is now around 2%, a sharp and sudden increase from levels, which were in the 1.65% range earlier in the month. If rates continue in this direction, bond investors will likely see something that they haven’t experienced in a while, losses. With rising rates bond prices will fall, hitting the returns for investors who have big holdings in the fixed income world (see Play Rising Rates with These ETFs ). What’s a Fixed Income Investor to Do? This puts fixed income investors in quite the quandary, as many still desire the stability that comes with bonds, but with the writing on the wall for rates, it is hard to be too optimistic about the space in the near term. However, should we see a burst in market volatility, investors will likely clamor for more bond holdings, putting many investors in a difficult spot. Fortunately, thanks to some relatively new bond ETFs, fixed income investors might have a solution on their hands. These new products are ‘negative duration’ bonds and they actually look to rise in price when rates rise and thus are basically built for a rising rate environment (see 3 Sector ETFs to Profit from Rising Rates ). Currently, there are two such funds both coming to us from WisdomTree. First up, we have the WisdomTree Barclays Aggregate Bond Negative Duration ETF (NASDAQ: AGND ), which has a -5 year duration, and then the WisdomTree BofA Merrill Lynch High Yield Bond Negative Duration ETF (NASDAQ: HYND ) , which has a -7 year duration for those who focus on the junk bond market. More Information These types of funds could be interesting stand alone picks, or ones to pair with other bond holdings as well. For example, an (iShares Core Total U.S. Bond Market ETF (NYSEARCA: AGG )) investor could use AGND in order to bring down their overall duration, while a similar strategy can be used by (iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: HYG )) or (SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEARCA: JNK )) investors who are looking to ratchet down their interest rate risk levels with HYND. For more on these funds and how they can be used in a portfolio, watch our short video on the topic below!