Ultra Funds: The Best of the Best
Kevin Baker
04/19/07 - 10:00 AM EDT
Editor's note: As a special feature for April, TheStreet.com is offering a series reviewing the first-quarter performance of mutual funds and ETFs. This is the fourth installment.
As we close the books on the first quarter of 2007, TheStreet.com Ratings looks back at which fund families performed the best -- what we like to call "ultra" fund families.
There are two ways that a fund family can earn the designation of ultra fund family. One, the fund company can be one of the few that has the most funds on our quarterly top-200 list of open-end funds. Two, the fund can have a greater percentage of its funds ranked in the top 30% of all open-end funds compared with other fund families of similar size.
This quarter, Franklin Templeton Investments, a unit of
Franklin Resources (BEN Quote), placed 16 funds in our top 200. This knocked MFS, a unit of
Sun Life Financial (SLF Quote) down to second place with 15 funds and Putnam Funds down to third from second with 13 funds.
Also doing well were AIM Investments, a unit of
Amvescap (AVZ Quote), with 11 funds, and Alliance Bernstein with 10 funds. Each share class is considered by TheStreet.com Ratings as a separate fund.
Once the effect of multiple share classes is taken away, two additional families rise to the top. GMO Funds and Dimensional Investment Group join Franklin Templeton Investments with six unique funds. Putnam Funds and AIM Investments tied for second place with five unique funds, and MFS came in third with four.
As of March 31, 2007, there remain just 34 fund companies with 100 or more open-end funds rated on a risk-adjusted return basis by TheStreet.com Ratings. Being one of the top-five fund families on each of the lists below is the other way to be considered an ultra fund family.
Top 30% funds earned overall investment grades of A-plus down to B-minus. Those ranked in the middle 40% had grades of C-plus, C and C-minus. And D-plus or lower make up the bottom 30%.
| Top Fund Families With 100 or More Rated Funds |
| Fund Family Name |
No. of Funds Rated |
Top 30% |
Middle 40% |
Bottom 30% |
| American Funds |
211 |
64.50% |
29.90% |
5.70% |
| Franklin Templeton |
197 |
51.80% |
28.90% |
19.30% |
| Vanguard |
126 |
51.60% |
37.30% |
11.10% |
| T. Rowe Price |
117 |
48.70% |
38.50% |
12.80% |
| AIM Investments |
161 |
48.40% |
26.10% |
25.50% |
| Goldman Sachs |
129 |
47.30% |
23.30% |
29.50% |
| Allianz Global Investors Fund Manag |
117 |
47.00% |
23.10% |
29.90% |
| RiverSource Investments |
164 |
38.40% |
36.00% |
25.60% |
| Columbia Funds |
458 |
38.20% |
48.50% |
13.30% |
| Principal Financial Group |
278 |
38.10% |
39.20% |
22.70% |
| Morgan Stanley |
183 |
37.70% |
35.50% |
26.80% |
| JPMorgan Funds |
238 |
35.70% |
41.20% |
23.10% |
| Dreyfus |
282 |
35.10% |
30.10% |
34.80% |
| American Century Investments |
146 |
34.90% |
33.60% |
31.50% |
| Hartford Funds, The |
149 |
34.90% |
45.00% |
20.10% |
| MFS |
297 |
33.70% |
39.40% |
26.90% |
| Gartmore |
151 |
33.10% |
34.40% |
32.50% |
| Van Kampen |
145 |
32.40% |
45.50% |
22.10% |
| Evergreen Investments |
102 |
30.40% |
34.30% |
35.30% |
| MainStay Funds |
110 |
30.00% |
45.50% |
24.50% |
| BlackRock |
227 |
29.10% |
40.10% |
30.80% |
| ING Investments, LLC |
309 |
28.80% |
37.50% |
33.70% |
| OppenheimerFunds |
151 |
28.50% |
30.50% |
41.10% |
| Fidelity |
591 |
27.60% |
49.70% |
22.70% |
| DWS Scudder |
162 |
27.20% |
33.30% |
39.50% |
| Wells Fargo Advantage Funds |
213 |
26.30% |
47.90% |
25.80% |
| Alliance Bernstein |
305 |
24.30% |
55.70% |
20.00% |
| Putnam Funds |
383 |
21.40% |
62.70% |
15.90% |
| Pacific Life Funds |
117 |
20.50% |
55.60% |
23.90% |
| MassMutual Funds |
127 |
20.50% |
48.80% |
30.70% |
| Delaware Investments |
101 |
19.80% |
42.60% |
37.60% |
| John Hancock |
100 |
18.00% |
39.00% |
43.00% |
| Rydex Funds |
117 |
15.40% |
31.60% |
53.00% |
| Legg Mason |
109 |
10.10% |
30.30% |
59.60% |
| Source: TheStreet.com Ratings |
American Funds holds the top spot on the list above for the third consecutive quarter. Of the 211 American funds we rate, 64.5% of them are ranked in the top 30%. Franklin Templeton, with 51.8% in the top 30%, narrowly edged out Vanguard's 51.6%, reversing their second- and third-place order from last quarter.
T.Rowe Price (TROW Quote) climbed from seventh place at year-end to fourth, and AIM rose from sixth to fifth.
| Top Fund Families With 40 to 99 Rated Funds |
| Fund Family Name |
No. of Funds Rated |
Top 30% |
Middle 40% |
Bottom 30% |
| Ivy Funds |
83 |
56.60% |
32.50% |
10.80% |
| Gabelli Funds |
75 |
50.70% |
16.00% |
33.30% |
| GMO Funds |
47 |
42.60% |
38.30% |
19.10% |
| Pioneer Investments |
93 |
37.60% |
24.70% |
37.60% |
| Russell Funds |
71 |
33.80% |
49.30% |
16.90% |
| STI Classic Funds |
57 |
33.30% |
28.10% |
38.60% |
| Eaton Vance |
82 |
31.70% |
48.80% |
19.50% |
| Lord Abbett |
80 |
28.80% |
46.30% |
25.00% |
| JennisonDryden |
92 |
27.20% |
53.30% |
19.60% |
| SEI Financial Management Corp. |
44 |
25.00% |
65.90% |
9.10% |
| Source: TheStreet.com Ratings |
Ivy Funds, a unit of
Waddell & Reed (WDR Quote) regained the top spot on the 40-to-99-funds list, as GMO Funds, slipped to third place behind Gabelli Funds.
| The 10 Best Fund Families With 10-39 Rated Funds |
| Fund Family Name |
No. of Funds Rated |
Top 30% |
Middle 40% |
Bottom 30% |
| Thornburg Funds |
17 |
100.00% |
0.00% |
0.00% |
| Lazard Funds |
11 |
81.80% |
0.00% |
18.20% |
| Dimensional Investment Group |
25 |
80.00% |
16.00% |
4.00% |
| Diamond Trusts |
11 |
63.60% |
27.30% |
9.10% |
| Vantagepoint Funds |
19 |
63.20% |
31.60% |
5.30% |
| Pacific Capital |
25 |
60.00% |
16.00% |
24.00% |
| Forward Funds, Inc. |
10 |
60.00% |
40.00% |
0.00% |
| Hotchkis & Wiley |
14 |
57.10% |
14.30% |
28.60% |
| American AAdvantage |
25 |
52.00% |
40.00% |
8.00% |
| Oakmark |
12 |
50.00% |
33.30% |
16.70% |
| Source: TheStreet.com Ratings |
Of the 71 fund families with between 10 and 39 rated funds, Thornburg Funds retained the top ranking. Impressively, all 17 of its rated funds rank in the top 30%. Lazard Funds moved up two spots from a fourth-place finish in the fourth quarter to second place. This pushed Dimensional Investment Group down from second to third place.
We track 303 additional fund families that have fewer than 10 rated funds. Third Avenue takes the No. 1 spot with all four of its rated funds in the top 30%. Dodge & Cox and Longleaf Partners each placed all three of their rated funds in the top 30%.
