Life Lessons 101
TheStreet.com Ratings Adds 33 Open-End Mutual Funds
Kevin Baker
07/22/08 - 11:57 AM EDT
TheStreet.com Ratings initiated coverage of 33 open-end mutual funds that accrued a track record of three years of risk and performance data by the end of June.
One of the funds that opened for business in June, 2005, received our top rating level of Excellent.
The Royce Global Select Fund(RSFTX) starts off with the highest possible rating of A+. The fund targets mid-, small-, and micro-cap stocks considered to be undervalued. Its allocation is 17.0% mining, 17.0% banks, 6.2% machinery, 5.8% oil and gas services, 5.7% oil and gas, and 5.6% iron and steel.
Three noteworthy holdings that have performed well are UltraShort Consumer Services ProShares(SCC), UltraShort Industrials ProShares(SIJ) and UltraShort Real Estate ProShares(SRS). All of these are exchange-traded funds that sell short their underlying indexes with 200% leverage.
Two more funds qualified for our recommended list with ratings of B+.
The first B+ fund is the Aston River Road Small Cap Value Fund(ARSVX). As with the previous fund, this fund invests mostly in undervalued small caps. 94.1% of the fund is comprised of U.S. stocks with 2.8% Mexico, 2.1% Canada, and 1.0% Israel rounding out the mix.
Some of the largest holdings include Aptragroup(ATR), Encore Acquisition(EAC) and Brink's(BCO).
The second recommended list fund is GMO World Opportunities Equity Allocation Fund(GWOAX). This is a fund of funds that splits its investments between other GMO mutual funds including U.S. Equity, International Equity, Fixed Income and Alternative Asset Opportunity funds.
Research Methodology
TheStreet.com Ratings condenses the available fund performance and risk data into a single composite opinion of each fund's risk-adjusted performance. This allows the unbiased identification of those funds that have historically done well and those that have underperformed the market. While there is no guarantee of future performance, these Investment Ratings provide a solid framework for making informed, timely investment decisions.
The funds listed below have either reached their three year anniversary or are additional share classes of existing funds for which the fund companies have submitted three years of pro-forma results.
| Newly Rated Open-End Stock Mutual Funds | ||||||
| Fund (Ticker) Initial Rating | Inception Date | Total Return 1 Year | Total Return 3 Years | Total Return YTD | Objective | |
| Royce Global Select Fund (RSFTX) A+ | 6/30/2005 | 7.72% | 21.54% | 8.13% | Growth - Domestic | |
| Aston River Road Sm Cap Value N (ARSVX) B+ | 6/28/2005 | -16.17% | 8.19% | -5.66% | Small Cap | |
| GMO World Opp Equity Alloc - III (GWOAX) B+ | 6/16/2005 | -9.69% | 9.50% | -10.30% | Asset Allocation - Domestic | |
| Aston River Road Dyn Eq Inc N (ARDEX) B | 6/28/2005 | -13.24% | 6.65% | -7.63% | Equity Income | |
| Thrivent Moderate Conser Alloc A (TCAAX) B | 6/30/2005 | -3.12% | 5.04% | -4.38% | Asset Allocation - Domestic | |
| Goldman Sachs Small/Mid-Cap Gr A (GSMAX) B- | 6/30/2005 | -2.45% | 10.10% | -5.66% | Mid Cap | |
| Thrivent Moderate Allocation A (THMAX) B- | 6/30/2005 | -5.49% | 5.86% | -6.42% | Asset Allocation - Domestic | |
| Thrivent Partner Mid Cap Value A (TPMAX) B- | 6/30/2005 | -9.44% | 7.00% | -3.51% | Mid Cap | |
| Lord Abbett Div Income Strategy A (ISFAX) C+ | 6/30/2005 | -4.80% | 3.28% | -4.18% | Equity Income | |
| Lord Abbett Gr & Inc Strategy A (LWSAX) C+ | 6/29/2005 | -7.19% | 5.81% | -8.79% | Global Equity | |
| Principal LgCp Gr II A (PLNAX) C+ | 6/28/2005 | -0.68% | 6.80% | -9.09% | Growth - Domestic | |
| Principal MdCp Gr I A (PMOAX) C+ | 6/28/2005 | -8.01% | 7.33% | -6.33% | Mid Cap | |
| Thrivent Aggressive Allocation A (TAAAX) C+ | 6/30/2005 | -8.86% | 7.21% | -9.13% | Asset Allocation - Domestic | |
| Thrivent Moder Aggressive Alloc A (TMAAX) C+ | 6/30/2005 | -7.78% | 6.43% | -8.23% | Asset Allocation - Domestic | |
| Calvert Aggresive Allocation A (CAAAX) C | 6/30/2005 | -9.91% | 4.76% | -8.99% | Asset Allocation - Domestic | |
| Oppenheimer Dividend Growth Fund A (OADGX) C | 6/30/2005 | -8.23% | 4.66% | -9.39% | Growth - Domestic | |
| William Blair Emrg Mkts Gr N (WBENX) C | 6/6/2005 | 5.47% | 33.03% | -15.51% | Emerging Market Equity | |
| Ariel Focus Fund (ARFFX) C- | 6/30/2005 | -15.48% | 1.67% | -8.56% | Growth - Domestic | |
| ING GET U.S.Core Portfolio -Ser 8 (IGUJX) C- | 6/8/2005 | -8.29% | 2.83% | -7.18% | Equity Income | |
| J Hancock Greater China Opp A (JCOAX) C- | 6/8/2005 | -6.28% | 27.84% | -24.77% | Non-US Equity | |
| PIMCO Fundamental IndexPLUS Tr A (PIXAX) C- | 6/30/2005 | -13.08% | 3.54% | -14.23% | Equity Income | |
| Thrivent Partner Small Cap Gr A (TPSAX) C- | 6/30/2005 | -13.71% | 4.51% | -12.66% | Small Cap | |
| Vanguard Diversified Equity Inv (VDEQX) C- | 6/10/2005 | -15.19% | 3.65% | -12.02% | Asset Allocation - Domestic | |
| Dover Responsibility A (DRFAX) D+ | 6/6/2005 | -15.23% | 2.67% | -13.55% | Growth - Domestic | |
| Principal MdCp Value Il A (PMEAX) D+ | 6/28/2005 | -18.91% | 2.27% | -10.10% | Mid Cap | |
| Royce Select Fund II Investment (RSFDX) D+ | 6/30/2005 | -19.22% | 2.56% | -10.89% | Growth - Domestic | |
| Van Kampen American Franchise A (VAFAX) D+ | 6/23/2005 | -17.34% | 2.12% | -12.05% | Equity Income | |
| DWS Dreman Concen Value A (LOPEX) D | 6/2/2005 | -21.17% | 1.41% | -17.62% | Growth - Domestic | |
| Thrivent Real Estate Securities A (TREFX) D- | 6/30/2005 | -14.58% | 4.49% | -3.45% | Sector - Real Estate | |
| Transamerica Prt Inst Value (DIVLX) D- | 6/3/2005 | -32.85% | -4.84% | -20.18% | Growth - Domestic | |
| Transamerica Prt Value (DVVLX) E+ | 6/3/2005 | -32.89% | -4.99% | -20.13% | Growth - Domestic | |
| Touchstone JSAM Large Cap Value Por (CIJLX) E- | 6/20/2005 | -50.14% | -13.10% | -27.20% | Growth & Income | |
| Touchstone JSAM Value Portfolio (CIJVX) E- | 6/17/2005 | -51.94% | -13.42% | -27.53% | Growth & Income | |
| Source: TheStreet.com Ratings | ||||||