Best Performing Aggressive Growth Funds Of Q2 2015
Aggressive growth funds’ second-quarter performance did not justify its characteristic of high capital gains. Except for the top 2 gainers, none of the funds could cross a 4% return in the second quarter of 2015. However, a higher number of non-aggressive growth funds posted returns over 4%. Gains for certain growth funds such as the Driehaus Micro Cap Growth Fund (MUTF: DMCRX ) and the Berkshire Focus Fund (MUTF: BFOCX ) soared as much as 10.7% and 9%. While average gains for the top growth funds performers of second quarter 2015 reached 6.8%, the average gain for top 10 aggressive growth funds was 3.2%. However, it was a tough second quarter for the broader markets. Markets had a dismal run in the second quarter, wherein the S&P 500 and Dow declined 0.2% and 0.9%; however, the NASDAQ did gain 1.8%. Just 41% of mutual funds could manage to finish in the green in the second quarter. This is less than half of the 81% gains scored by mutual funds in the first quarter. These losses, however, owed a lot to the selloff on the eve of the quarter’s end. Of the 289 funds under the study, 124 funds finished in the green while 3 funds had a breakeven return. The average gain for these 124 funds stood at 1.5%. As for the remaining 161 funds that finished in negative territory, the average loss was 1.1%. (Note: This number includes the same funds of varied classes) Aggressive Growth Funds Investors looking for the highest capital gains should look no further than investing in aggressive growth mutual funds. These funds invest in companies that show high growth prospects, but also comes with the risk of share price fluctuations. This category of funds also invests heavily in undervalued stocks, IPOs and relatively volatile securities in order to profit from them in a congenial economic climate. Securities are selected on the basis of their issuing company’s potential for growth and profitability. This category of instruments has a strong positive correlation with market movements and provides good returns during a market upswing. Such performance is achieved by investing in securities issued by companies with strong growth potential and in IPOs which are often resold quickly at a handsome profit. Many aggressive growth mutual funds may also invest in options to achieve their goal of high returns. Best Performing Below we present the top 15 aggressive growth mutual funds with best returns of Q2 2015: Note: The list excludes the same funds with different classes, and institutional funds have been excluded. Funds having minimum initial investment above $5000 have been excluded. Q2 % Rank vs. Objective* equals the percentage the fund falls among its peers. Here, 1 being the best and 99 being the worst. An interesting thing about the list of top gainers is that the 15 funds are all from different fund families. Certain major names include the Federated Kaufmann Fund A (MUTF: KAUAX ), the American Century Ultra Fund A (MUTF: TWUAX ), the Rydex NASDAQ-100 Fund Inv (MUTF: RYOCX ), the Fidelity New Millennium Fund (MUTF: FMILX ) and the Franklin Growth Opportunities Fund Adv (MUTF: FRAAX ). These are respectively from Federated , American Century , Guggenheim Investments , Fidelity and Franklin Templeton . While, KAUAX and FMILX carry a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #4 (Sell), TWUAX, RYOCX and FRAAX hold a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #3 (Hold). Talking of fund families, not many fund families had strong second-quarter performance. The best gain for a Franklin Templeton mutual fund lagged Fidelity’s best gain of 11.6% . Separately, Vanguard had a dismal second quarter and their best gain was just 3.8%; however, it should be noted that Vanguard has more passive funds than other fund families. Meanwhile, funds carrying a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) are the Hartford Growth Opportunities Fund A (MUTF: HGOAX ), the Wasatch Ultra Growth Fund (MUTF: WAMCX ) and the White Oak Select Growth Fund (MUTF: WOGSX ). Separately, the Cambiar Aggressive Value Fund Inv (MUTF: CAMAX ), the Baron Partners Fund Adv (MUTF: BPTRX ) and the Jacob Micro Cap Growth Fund (MUTF: JMCGX ) hold a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #2 (Buy). Original Post