Investing April 8, 2003

RiskMetrics Releases First Quarter 2003 Fund Kudos and Raspberries

April 8, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - RiskMetrics Group has unveiled its latest quarterly list of kudos and raspberries for the "Best and Worst" evaluations of US and UK equity mutual funds unit trusts/OEICs.
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According to an announcement, the risk-adjusted evaluation for the first quarter of 2003 incorporates managers’ proficiency. The quantitative approach specifies the funds and unit trusts/OEICs that have provided the greatest risk-adjusted outperformance, while maintaining the most stable level of risk over the last five years. RiskMetrics Group rates all publicly traded equity mutual funds and unit trusts/OEICs in the US and UK.

The “Best and Worst” Fund Evaluations are assigned in four style categories: conservative, balanced, growth, and aggressive. These categories are determined by the risk profiles of each fund and unit trust/OEIC. Only those funds and unit trusts/OEICs with the statistically highest- and lowest-scores are displayed.

Among the US mutual fund rankings:

  • Exeter Pro-Blend Conservative Term Series Fund captured a best conservative fund label while Gabelli Mathers Fund was designated a worst conservative fund.
  • In the balanced fund category, American Century Real Estate Fund, Berwyn Income Fund, Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund and Oakmark Equity & Income Fund got best fund labels. CDC Nvest Balanced Fund and EquiTrust Managed Portfolio got a worst designation.
  • In the growth fund category, Clipper Fund, Lord Abbett Mid-Cap Value Fund, Neuberger Berman Genesis Fund, and Vanguard Specialized Health Care Fund won best monikers. GAM International Fund took a worst label.
  • In the aggressive fund category, ABN AMRO Mid Cap Fund, AMCAP Fund, and Fidelity Pacific Basin Fund took best designations while BlackRock International Equity Portfolio and John Hancock Global Fund were hit with worst labels.  

UK “Best and Worst” Rankings

Among the UK rankings:

  • Marlborough Global Bond Fund was awarded a best conservative fund rank while Gartmore Safeguard got a worst conservative fund label.
  • Fidelity Long Bond Inst. and Marlborough HH UK High Income got best balanced fund ranks while Exeter Equity Income took a worst balanced fund description.
  • Fidelity Special Situations and Rathbone Income got best growth fund ranks while Investec Income Share Fund took a worst growth fund label.
  • Credit Suisse Transatlantic Retail and Jupiter Far Eastern won best aggressive fund ranks while LeggMason UK Emerging Growth took a worst aggressive fund label.

A complete list of the “Best and Worst” rankings is available for the  US and the  UK .

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