Firsthand Funds Spreading the 'Wealth'

Like many of its customers, tech-fund boutique Firsthand Funds is feeling the diversification itch.

Since the Nasdaq's peak last year, the Silicon Valley shop has seen its roster of tech funds plummet in value. To spread its bets, if only a bit, over the summer the firm filed paperwork with regulators to launch a couple of health care sector funds and three diversified growth funds. A Monday filing indicates that of those five filings, two growth offerings, Firsthand Aggressive Growth and Firsthand Core Growth, are ready to roll off the assembly line.

Both funds will be run by Firsthand chief investment officer and CNBC darling Kevin Landis and a team of analysts he's built, and they're based on the idea that investors with firsthand experience working in tech industries are best positioned as tech-stock pickers. They'll have a lot of leeway, with clearance to invest in any foreign or domestic companies they think will grow earnings faster than their peers or the broader market. While Aggressive Growth will primarily focus on mid-cap stocks and Core Growth will mostly zero in on large-cap stocks, each can invest in companies of any size.

The new growth funds' prospectuses don't mention any bias toward tech stocks, but it's hard not to expect a tech-heavy approach. Growth funds typically emphasize the tech sector, and that's where Firsthand's research is focused, since its other six funds are all either tech or communications sector funds. Most of those funds have taken a worse drubbing than their average peer over the past 12 months. The firm's small-cap (TIFQX Quote)Technology Innovators fund, off 30%, is Firsthand's top performer over that stretch and actually beats more 75% of the tech funds out there. The rest are all down between 42% ((GTFQX Quote)Firsthand Global Technology) and 61% ((TCFQX Quote)Firsthand Communications) and trail their average competitor, according to Chicago research house Morningstar.

Firsthand Technology Value, the firm's flagship launched in 1994, still has a solid long-term record. The fund's 14.2% annualized gain over the past five years beats 80% of tech funds.

The Core Growth fund will try to woo brokers, though the firm's funds have traditionally been sold directly to investors. The fund will be offered via Class A and Class C shares, which levy sales charges, or loads, to pay a broker's commission. Investors who buy Class A shares will pay a maximum 5.75% sales charge, while Class C shares carry a 1% fee on shares sold within 12 months of purchase.

The shift toward brokers and financial planners isn't new to Firsthand or other no-load fund companies, since most fund shares are sold through intermediaries. Earlier this month, the firm began planning an adviser-sold share class for its flagship (TVFQX Quote)Technology Value fund. At the end of November, traditional no-load firm Invesco announced plans to sell its funds strictly through the broker channel starting in March. The Aggressive Growth fund will be sold without a load or sales charge, according to its filing. Both funds will carry a 1.60% annual expense ratio, slightly higher than the average growth fund's 1.54% expense ratio.

Given the struggles suffered by its tech funds and Firsthand's inexperience as diversified fund manager, it won't be surprising if advisers and investors take a wait-and-see approach with these new offerings.

12 Funds of Christmas Redux

On Christmas Eve Jim Cramer and I chatted about our "12 Funds of Christmas" on Jim's RealMoney radio show. It's basically a list of a dozen funds that have consistently topped their peers with lower volatility. Since then, I've gotten a slew of emails from folks looking for a review of which funds we picked. I've listed them below. Since the broadcast, the small-cap growth Wasatch Emerging Growth fund has closed to new investors. In its place I'd check out the (MGSEX Quote)Managers Special Equity fund.

Core index fund

(VTSMX Quote)Vanguard Total Stock Market Index

Large-cap growth funds

(AGTHX Quote)Growth Fund of America

(JAGIX Quote)Janus Growth & Income

Mid-cap growth funds

(BRAGX Quote)Bridgeway Aggressive Growth

Small-cap growth funds

(WAAEX Quote)Wasatch Small Cap Growth

Large-cap value funds

(DODGX Quote)Dodge & Cox Stock

(LMVTX Quote)Legg Mason Value Trust

Mid-cap value funds

(OAKMX Quote)Oakmark

Small-cap value funds

(OFALX Quote)Olstein Financial Alert

Core index bond fund

(VBMFX Quote)Vanguard Total Bond Market Index

Intermediate-term bond funds

(FBDFX Quote)Fremont Bond

High-yield bond fund

(JAHYX Quote)Janus High-Yield