Monday, January 9, 2012

The Mutual Fund Scorecard

The investing year of 2011 saw a huge surge in the fourth quarter, one that was necessary to get us back to even on the year. That was certainly true in the mutual fund universe, as we're seeing with the flood of year-end numbers that are now coming in. The largest mutual fund category, domestic general stocks, saw a surge of 10.8 percent in the fourth quarter, which was only enough to get it back to a loss of 1.7 percent on the year.

What's remarkable is how consistent that pattern was across so many mutual fund sectors:

* Industrials gained 14.0 percent in the fourth quarter, but still lost 4.1 percent on the year.

* Energy stocks gained 13.2 percent in the fourth quarter, but still lost 4.6 percent on the year.

* Natural resources gained 12.7 percent in the fourth quarter, but still lost a whopping 14.5 percent on the year.

A couple of areas did buck the trend. Utilities gained 8.8 percent in the fourth quarter, which actually underperformed their yearlong return of 10.8 percent. Precious-metals stocks, on the other hand, lost ground in the fourth quarter to the tune of 6.1 percent, contributing to an overall 2011 loss of 20.6 percent.

No comments:

Post a Comment