Best Mutual Funds Now

The Franklin India Growth Fund is one of the best ways to invest in India’s growing economy.  This mutual fund India is run by Franklin Templeton Investments and is derived from the market of India.  This Franklin India fund is based primarily on stocks (92% as of this writing) from companies with a strong base in India.

The primary investments of this Franklin India mutual fund are in companies that derive a majority of their revenue from the Indian economy or hold a majority of their assets in India.  Titled the “Franklin India Growth Fund,” this India mutual fund started in January of 2008 and so does not have a lot of history to draw from for analysis.  You know that we like a vanguard mutual fund, but a Vanguard India mutual fund does not currently exist.

Currently, the Franklin India Growth Fund is showing a loss, but this is fairly common amongst new investments and the fund’s history is so short that using this as a gauge may be a mistake.  It is worth noting, however, and should be considered in an India mutual fund investment decision.

These new investment portfolios, however, are popular amongst investors unafraid of higher-risk and those interested in higher growth potential.  This Franklin India mutual fund offers something of interest to most profit-oriented investors, so we feel it’s worth taking a look at in such a portfolio.  Especially if you’re new to mutual fund investing in India and want to get your feet wet.

The minimum initial investment for the Franklin India Growth Fund is only a thousand dollars ($1,000), making it of definite interest to the lower-capital investor as well.  This India mutual fund is definitely one we’ll keep an eye on and we think you should as well.

In our search for find the best mutual funds, we decided to turn our attention the mutual fund India.  The first mutual fund india that we are going to review is the Franklin India Growth Fund.  If you are looking to invest in the growth of the Indian economy, you will enjoy this Franklin India Growth Fund review.

This india mutual fund is run by Franklin Templeton Investments and is derived from the market of India.  This Franklin India fund is based primarily on stocks (92% as of this writing) from companies with a strong base in India.

The primary investments of this Franklin India mutual fund are in companies that derive a majority of their revenue from the Indian economy or hold a majority of their assets in India.  Titled the “Franklin India Growth Fund,” this India mutual fund started in January of 2008 and so does not have a lot of history to draw from for analysis.

Currently, the Franklin India Growth Fund is showing a loss, but this is fairly common amongst new investments and the fund’s history is so short that using this as a gage may be a mistake.  It is worth noting, however, and should be considered in an India mutual fund investment decision.

These new investment portfolios, however, are popular amongst investors unafraid of higher-risk and those interested in higher growth potential.  This Franklin India mutual fund offers something of interest to most profit-oriented investors, so we feel it’s worth taking a look at in such a portfolio.  Especially if you’re new to mutual fund investing in India and want to get your feet wet.

The minimum initial investment for the Franklin India Growth Fund is only a thousand dollars ($1,000), making it of definite interest to the lower-capital investor as well.  This India mutual fund is definitely one we’ll keep an eye on and we think you should as well.  Please subscribe to best mutual funds now to keep up to date on the Franklin India Growth Fund and other mutual fund india that we discover.

Vanguard Energy Fund Review

Are you complaining about the price of gas and home heating oil?  Do you hate the big oil companies who are trying to fleece us consumers?  Well, maybe not.  But, don’t be a hater.  Join them by owning a piece of these energy companies.  One way to do this is by investing in the Vanguard Energy Fund.  This mutual fund is a best Vanguard fund.

The Vanguard Energy Fund invests in companies whose primary business involves the energy sector.  At least 80% of this energy fund assets are invested in these energy companies.  These energy companies can be oil companies, natural gas companies, companies involved in the production and transmission of energy or energy fuels, companies involved in researching energy technologies and alternative energy technologies, and pollution control and other methods needed to make energy production environmentally safer.

Vanguard Energy Fund Performance

VGENX has performed extremely well over the last 10, 5, 3 and 1 years.  In each of these periods this Vanguard energy mutual fund outperformed the S&P Energy Sector Index.  Over the last year, VGENX has increased in value over 30%, almost 6% higher than the S&P Energy Index.

VGENX Minimum Investment

One of the biggest hurdles that investors will have with investing in the Vanguard Energy Fund is that it requires a $25,000 minimum investment.  If you have $25,000 to invest, then this will not be a problem.  However, for many investors, $25,000 invested in one mutual fund is too much.

We hope that you have found this Vanguard Energy Fund review helpful.  If you are currently investing in this Vanguard mutual fund or are thinking about it, please share your thoughts and experiences.

This is the fifth article in a series of Vanguard mutual fund articles.  Here at Best Mutual Fund Now we are dedicated to highlighting the best mutual funds.  The Vanguard Wellington fund fits that description.  The last article provided a review of the Vanguard Wellesley Income Mutual Fund. This article will provide a review of the Vanguard Wellington mutual fund.

Overview of the Vanguard Wellington Mutual Fund:

This Vanguard mutual fund is a balanced fund with a heavier concentration of stocks than bonds.  This Vanguard balanced mutual fund invests two-thirds of its assets in large cap U.S. stocks and one-third of its assets in high-quality U.S. bonds.  By combining large cap U.S. stocks and high quality U.S. bonds, the Vanguard Wellington fund is designed for an investor looking for a balanced fund that will achieve investment growth without large fluctuations in share value.

Who should invest in this Vanguard Mutual Fund?

This balanced fund is for the investor who is looking to invest for the medium to long term.  Since Vanguard mutual fund managers will be actively choosing which stocks to buy, there can be risk that the share value of the mutual fund will decrease.  Therefore this Vanguard Wellington fund is not for the short-term investor. Additionally, this Vanguard Wellington fund has a minimum investment of $10,000.

What are the Vanguard mutual fund fees charged?

This Vanguard Income Fund is a no-load mutual fund.  Vanguard no-load mutual funds have very low management fees.  This balanced fund has a low 0.27% expense ratio.  This .27% expense ratio is much lower than the average 1.20% expense ratio in the industry.

You must be aware of Vanguard’s account service fee of $20 per year for non-retirement accounts.  Vanguard charges this account service fee for accounts with minimum investments.  Please read the other article, Vanguard Equity Income Fund,  to learn how to avoid paying this account service fee.

What has been the performance of the Vanguard Wellington Fund:

For the past ten years, this fund has had an average annual return of 6.86%.  The industry average return over the last 10 years was 4.21%.  Over the last five years, Wellington mutual fund had an average annual return of 9.18%.  Over the last year, the Vanguard Wellington mutual fund has experienced an average return of -3.54%.

The Wellington balanced Vanguard mutual fund is great for any investor seeking to invest in a balanced mutual fund with investments in the United States large cap stocks.  If you have a medium to long term investment horizon, this balanced vanguard fund could be worth looing into more.

The Vanguard Group makes a pledge to its Vanguard Mutual Fund customers.  I think that it is valuable to review this pledge because it shows the value that investors receive from Vanguard mutual funds.  This article will review the Vanguard mutual fund pledge.

The first point that I would like to mention regarding Vanguard’s pledge is that they make this pledge in the first place.  As you can tell, I am a big fan of Vanguard mutual funds.  I believe that this pledge is a great sign of their commitment to their investors.

The first commitment in Vanguard’s pledge is to always put the interests of its investors first.  When deciding on which mutual fund company to invest in you have to rely on them that they are going to take good care of your money.

The second commitment discusses Vanguard’s long term commitment and their commitment to provide returns that are better than its competitors.  This really is the most important thing to determine when choosing a mutual fund company.  Will they have high rates of return than its competitors.

The fourth commitment is to provide valuable investment services.  This is fundamental reason why I like Vanguard mutual funds.  Value is not just high performance.  Value is high performance with low mutual fund fees.  Vanguard has always focused on keeping the fees low with respect to its funds.  These low cost Vanguard mutual funds is what makes Vanguard stand above the competition.

The Vanguard Group pledge shows its commitment to its investors.  I encourage you to read the pledge for yourself.  And, check out other mutual fund company pledges.  A Vanguard mutual fund will consistently provide value and this value is highlighted in this pledge.

Many investors often ask themselves, should I buy the best index funds or the best managed mutual funds.  This is a very big dilemma that people face.  Hopefully after reading this article, you have a clearer game plan for buying the best index funds or buying the best managed mutual funds.

Advantages of investing in managed mutual funds:

Most people want their investments to perform better than the stock market averages.  Only through the use of a managed fund will you get better performance than the stock market averages or whatever market your fund is based on.  The biggest advantage for investing in managed mutual funds is that you get a expert mutual fund manager who is actively managing your money.  The mutual fund manager will be researching which stocks will perform best given the goals of the fund.  The mutual fund manager will also be researching when it is best to sell the stocks that comprise the assets of the mutual fund.  But, does this active management make managed funds the best mutual funds?

Advantages of the best index funds:

While managed funds have active management does this really increase the likelihood of better performance?  From what I have read, the answer seems to be no.  This section of the article will highlight the advantage of index fund investing.

One of the biggest reasons why the best index funds tend to outperform managed funds is that they have lower fees.  If the mutual fund is taking less of the money from the assets to pay the fund, this keeps more of your money making money as opposed to paying salaries.  There is very little evidence that mutual funds with higher fees perform better than funds with lower fees.

However, I want to point out that there are still a lot of managed funds with low fees.   You can read about some of these funds in these articles, Vanguard Equity Income Fund review and the Vanguard Wellesley Income mutual fund.

Besides low fees, what are some other advantages of investing in index funds?

When you invest in an index fund, you know exactly what investments the fund is going to buy.  Since the funds track an index, you don’t have to worry that the mutual fund managers will actually be investing in other investments.  While a mutual fund has an investment strategy, only with an index fund to you know what you are going to get.

Index funds tend to pay less in taxes.  As you pay less in taxes, more of your money is making money as opposed to paying Uncle Sam.  This can make a huge difference on your mutual fund performance.

So which is best, index funds or managed funds?  I personally think that index funds are best, but there are managed funds that perform better.  The problem is that it is hard to predict which fund will actually outperform the market.  Therefore, I invest mostly in index funds, but invest a portion in managed funds.

As you know, here at Best Mutual Funds Now, we love the Vanguard mutual fund.  Some of the best index funds are Vanguard index funds.  There are many reviews of Vanguard funds here so check them out.

This is the fourth article in a series of Vanguard mutual fund articles.  The last article provided a review of the Vanguard Short Term Bond Index Fund. This article will provide a review of the Vanguard Wellesley Income mutual fund.

Overview of the Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund:

This Vanguard mutual fund is an income fund designed to achieve income growth over the long-term as well as a consistent level of income for the mutual fund owners today.  In order to achieve this long-term income growth and current income stream, the Wellesley mutual fund managers invest in various U.S. Treasury bonds, other government bonds, mortgage-backed securities and investment-grade corporate bonds.  These various bonds make up 60% to 65% of its assets of this Vanguard mutual fund.  In order to balance out the assets of this fund, 35% to 40% of the other funds assets are stocks that pay higher dividends.  This might be stocks that have a history of paying higher dividends or stocks that are projected to pay higher dividends.

Who should invest in this Vanguard Mutual Fund?

This income fund is for the investor who is looking to earn current income and an increasing amount of income in the future.  Because this fund is trying to achieve higher income growth in the future and moderate increases in capital, investors how are looking for an investment for at least five years should consider investing in this mutual fund.

What are the Vanguard mutual fund fees charged?

This Vanguard Income Fund is a no-load mutual fund.  Vanguard no-load mutual funds have very low management fees.  This fund has a low 0.25% expense ratio.

As with any Vanguard Mutual Fund, it does have an account service fee of $20 per year for non-retirement accounts.  Please read the other article, Vanguard Equity Income Fund,  to learn how to avoid paying this account service fee.

What has been the performance of the Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund:

For the past ten years, this fund has had an average annual return of 6.53%.  Over the last five years, this fund’s average annual returns has been 5.87%.  So far this year the Vanguard mutual fund has had an average return of 0.30%.

The Wellesley Income Vanguard mutual fund is great for any investor seeking to receive income.  This fund combines stable income, income growth and capital appreciation.  If you are looking for a stable fund, you should check out this fund.  If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments below.

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This is the third article in a series of Vanguard mutual fund articles here on Best Mutual Funds Now.  The last article provided a review of the Vanguard Equity Income Fund. This article will provide a Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund review.

Overview of the Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund:

This Vanguard Short-Term Bond Fund is a Vanguard index mutual fund.  The bond indent fund employs a an indexing strategy that will track the performance of the Lehman 1–5 Year U.S. Government/Credit Index. This Vanguard index fund invests in all of the medium and larger issues of U.S. government, investment-grade corporate bonds, and investment-grade international dollar-denominated bonds that have maturities of between 1 and 5 years and are publicly issued.

The goal is to invest in the bond that comprise the Lehman 1–5 Year U.S. Government/Credit Index in order to mirror its returns.  Vanguard promises that 80% of the fund’s assets will be invested in bonds held in the index.

Who should invest in the Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund?

This mutual fund is for the investor who is looking to earn income and at the same time not experience volatility in the mutual fund price.  This is a great index fund to help you diversify your portfolio.  If your current portfolio is heavily invested in stocks, investing in the Vanguard index fund can help you with your diversification.  If you are trying to achieve long term capital growth, then this is not one the best Vanguard mutual funds for you.

What are the Vanguard mutual fund fees charged?

This Vanguard Bond Index Fund is a no-load mutual fund.  Since it is a no-load mutual fund and a Vanguard mutual fund, you can expect to pay very low management fees.  This fund has a very low 0.18% expense ratio.

To clarify what no-loan means, you will not have to pay any broker commission when you buy this fund.  You can buy it from Vanguard itself, and Vanguard does not have to pay a broker commission.  No-load mutual funds are the way to invest in mutual funds.  One of the most important factors in mutual fund performance is the fees it takes from its assets.  The higher the fees, the less of a return you will experience.

As I mentioned my previous article, Vanguard does have an account service fee of $20 per year for non-retirement accounts.  Please read the other article to learn how to avoid paying this Vanguard account service fee.

What has been the performance of the Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund:

Over the past ten years the average annual returns for this bond mutual fund have been slightly less than the Lehman 1–5 Year U.S. Government/Credit Index.  Over the last ten years, this fund’s average annual returns has been 4.98%.  The 5 year average annual return was 3.30%.  So far this year the average annual returns has been 7.31%.

If you are looking for a place to invest money in the short term, this Vanguard index fund could be one of the best Vanguard mutual funds for you.  We hope that you found this Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund review helpful.  As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask them in the comments below.

This is the second article in a series of Vanguard mutual fund articles here on Best Mutual Funds Now.  This article provides a Vanguard Equity Income Fund review.  Vanguard has some of the best mutual funds so we thought that we would start our blog by reviewing the best vanguard mutual funds.

Overview of the Vanguard Equity Income Fund:

The Vanguard Equity Income fund is a value mutual fund.  It focuses on investing in large capitalization companies that are seen as value stocks as opposed to growth stocks.  This Vanguard fund invests mainly in common stocks of medium-size and large companies that tend to pay a high level of dividends.  However, this income mutual fund does not just focus on high paying dividend companies.  The Vanguard fund managers want a mix of healthy dividends and  capital appreciation. About 80% of the Vanguard Equity Income Fund assests are invested in equities.

Who should invest in the Vanguage Equity Income Mutual Fund?

This mutual fund is for two types of mutual fund investors.  It is for those looking for dividend income and those looking for long term stock value appreciation.  Since this Vanguard fund invests 80% of its assets in stocks, investors who don’t want a volatility in their investments should not buy this fund.  Additionally, if you are trying to avoid having to pay taxable dividend income, then this is not one the best Vanguard mutual funds for you.

What are the Vanguard mutual fund fees charged?

This Vanguard Equity Income Fund is a no-load mutual fund.  This means that you can buy this mutual fund straight from Vanguard saving you from having to pay a broker a commission on the sale.  This is a huge advantage of Vanguard mutual funds.  Most of the Vanguard funds are no-load and this saves you a lot of money.  Additionally, Vanguard does not charge you any fee to buy this fund or to sell it.

Vanguard does have an account service fee of $20 per year for non-retirement accounts.  However, you can avoid this $20 Vanguard account service fee by signing up for account access on Vanguard.com and choosing electronic delivery of statements, confirmations, fund reports, and prospectuses.  This is a great way to save money by not having to pay this Vanguard account service fee.

What invests are currently being held by this equity income fund?

The five largest holdings comprising this Vanguard Equity Income fund are as of May 31, 2008:

• General Electric Co.
• Chevron Corp.
• AT&T Inc.
• JP Morgan Chase & Co.
• Bank of America Corp.

If you are looking for a fund that can give you a good mix of dividend income and stock price appreciation this Vanguard Equity Income Fund could be one of the best Vanguard mutual funds for you.  We hope that you found this Vanguard Equity Income Fund review helpful.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask them in the comments below.

This is the first article of a series of articles on Best Mutual Funds Now.  This series will review the best Vanguard mutual funds.  This article provides a review of the Vanguard Total Market Index Mutual Fund.

The Vanguard Total Market Index mutual fund is an index mutual fund with the goal of investing in the entire United States stock market.  This Vanguard mutual fund managers invest in all of the stocks that make up the United States stock market so this index fund return mirrors that of the entire U.S. stock market.

Wikipedia defines an index fund as follows,

An index fund or index tracker is a collective investment scheme (usually a  mutual fund or exchange-trade fund) that aims to replicate the movements of an index of a specific financial market, or a set of rules of ownership that are held constant, regardless of market conditions.  Tracking can be achieved by trying to hold all of the securities in the index, in the same proportions as the index.

As suggested by this definition of an index fund, the Vanguarg total market index fund will try to replicate the movements of the entire United States stock market.  If your goal is to diversify your investments, this mutual fund is a great way to do it.  If the United States stock market goes up, this Vanguard index fund will go up by the same percentage.  This is a great way to invest in the entire U.S. market.

What types of investments does the Vanguard Total Market Index Fund Invest In?

The answer to this question is simple.  This Vanguard index mutual fund is comprised solely of shares of stock in U.S. market companies.  If you are looking to invest in bonds or exchange-trade funds, ths is not the index fund for you.  This index fund invests 100% in stock.

What fees does this Vanguard Index fund charge?

This mutual fund is a Vanguard no-load mutual fund.  You can buy into this mutual fund directly from Vanguard and you do not have to pay any commissions to a broker.  We here at Best Mutual Funds Now love no-load mutual funds and there are no better no-load funds than Vanguard no-load mutual funds.  In addition to not having to pay commissions there are no 12b-1 fees or fees to purchase or sell this Vanguard fund.  However, if you are not purchasing this index fund through your 401(k) plan and you are buying less than $3,000, you will be charged a $15 annual account service fee.

What companies make up the largest holding for the Vanguard Total Market Index Mutual Fund?

• ExxonMobil Corp.
• General Electric Co.
• Microsoft Corp.
• AT&T
• The Procter & Gamble Co.
• Chevron Corp.
• Johnson & Johnson
• Bank of America Corp.
• IBM
• Cisco Systems, Inc.

I hope that you found this Vanguard Total Market Index Mutual Fund review helpful.  If you have any questions about this Vanguard index fund or any other Vanguard mutual funds, please leave them in the comments below.