US Equity Funds Celebrate Bountiful November

December 3, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Domestic equity funds enjoyed their second straight up month in November after suffering through the depths of the bear market, according to research firm Lipper, Inc.

According to Lipper, the average diversified stock fund jumped by almost 6% in November, about the same as in October’s performance, (See “Up” is Down and Down Up in October Fund Performance ) Reuters reported.

In a particularly notable turnaround, science and technology funds as well as telecommunications funds enjoyed a bountiful November, according to Lipper.

The average science & technology fund was up nearly 17% in November and the average telecommunication fund climbed by about 14%, topping the list of 35 stock fund categories in the Lipper data. Nevertheless, even after the back-to-back monthly gains, science and technology funds were down about 34% year-to-date and telecommunication funds were down nearly 36%.

Among the diversified fund categories the best performance last month came in small-cap growth funds, with the average fund up 7.7%, narrowly edging out the mid-cap value category, which was up by a similar amount.

Large cap value funds were up 6.3% for the month, while large cap growth funds were up 4.3%. On a year-to-date basis, the large value funds were also outperforming the large growth category, with the former down 15.8% and the latter down 23.3%.

Of Lipper’s 35 stock fund classifications, only specialty diversified equity funds were down in November. The category includes funds that bet on a declining market.

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