Kiplinger\'s Personal Finance 03.2020

03/2020 KIPLINGER’S PERSONAL FINANCE 25

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RECORDS TOPPLED IN THE U.S., BUT FOREIGN SHARES ALSO ROSE. BY NELLIE S. HUANG

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ho’s complaining about stock market results

for 2019? Not us. Investors in U.S. shares easily

shrugged off the threats of a growling bear in

late 2018 and pushed the market to record highs

throughout 2019. And most foreign markets

dazzled. Although they didn’t keep pace with

U.S. stocks, they posted double-digit gains—

a refreshing turnaround from previous years.

In all, it was a winning year for stocks (bonds

did well, too). Returns here and in the tables

below are through December 31.

Though all major U.S. stock groups did well in 2019,

large-company shares led the way, as they have for most of

the past decade. The large-company Standard & Poor’s 500-stock

index notched a 31.5% return. Stocks in small and midsize companies

didn’t disappoint, even though they lagged the S&P 500. The S&P

MidCap 400 benchmark of midsize firms gained 26.2%, and the Russell

2000 small-company stock index climbed 25.5%. Technology shares

were unstoppable. Information technology was the best-performing

sector in the S&P 500 last year, with a 50.3% gain.

Overseas, negative interest rates in Denmark,

Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Japan domi-

nated headlines and buoyed foreign stocks.

The MSCI EAFE index, which tracks foreign

stocks in developed countries, gained 22.0%

in 2019. Even stocks in emerging nations fared

well. The MSCI Emerging Markets index gained

18.4%, thanks mostly to hefty gains in China,

which now represents about one-third of the

EM benchmark. Shares did well in Russia, Greece

and Egypt, too.

On the pages that follow, we show the top-performing

stock mutual funds in 11 categories. The list includes only funds with

minimum-investment requirements of $10,000 or less, and it excludes

leveraged and inverse index funds. DATA COMPILED BY RYAN ERMEY

Get the latest data on any mutual fund, and sort and compare thousands

of funds, with our Mutual Fund Finder, at kiplinger.com/links/fundfinder.

A Big Turnaround for Markets

1. Fidelity Advisor Growth Opps A 17.8%


2. Shelton Nasdaq-100 Index Direct 17.4


3. USAA Nasdaq-100 Index 17.3


4. Akre Focus Retail 17.1


5. Fidelity OTC 17.1


6. Morgan Stanley Insight A 16.8


7. Fidelity Growth Company* 16.7


8. Rydex Nasdaq-100 Inv 16.6


9. Edgewood Growth Retail 16.2


10. Metropolitan West AlphaTrak 500 16.2
    CATEGORY AVERAGE 12.1%

10 YEARS

1. Leland Thomson Reuters Vntr Cptl Idx A 22.1%


2. Morgan Stanley Insight A 18.0


3. Fidelity Advisor Growth Opps A 17.7


4. Brown Advisory Sustainable Growth Inv 16.5


5. Franklin DynaTech A 16.5


6. Fidelity OTC 16.4


7. Polen Growth Inv 16.3


8. USAA Nasdaq-100 Index 16.3


9. Virtus Zevenbergen Innovative Gr Stk A 16.2


10. Edgewood Growth Retail 16.0
    CATEGORY AVERAGE 10.1%

5 YEARS

Large-company funds have had the wind at

their backs, and they’ve used outsized stakes

in technology as sails. Concentrated port-

folios, with relatively few stocks, have done

well. Brown Advisory Growth Equity manager

Ken Stuzin, at the helm nearly 21 years, keeps

the count at 30 to 35 high-quality stocks.

Managers at the firm’s similarly concentrated

Sustainable Growth fund seek firms with a

competitive advantage due to green factors

such as resource-efficient design or manufac-

turing. Tech and health care are the biggest

sector bets in both funds, which require just

$100 to invest. DF Dent Premier Growth runs

a 37-stock portfolio; Visa and insurer Markel

are the top holdings. Akre Focus, a solid, 10-

year winner with just 19 stocks, has a big

slug (17%) of cash. USAA Nasdaq-100 index

is a good choice offering a broader approach.

LARGE-COMPANY

STOCK FUNDS

Tech propelled outsize returns.

1. Leland Thomson Reuters Vntr Cptl Idx A 49.4%


2. Meridian Enhanced Equity Inv 45.2


3. Vulcan Value Partners 44.4


4. DF Dent Premier Growth Inv 42.9


5. Virtus KAR Capital Growth A 42.8


6. Matthew 25 42.1


7. Touchstone Growth Opportunities A 41.5


8. Lateef Focused Growth A 41.4


9. YCG Enhanced 41.2


10. Baron Durable Advantage Retail 40.8
    CATEGORY AVERAGE 28.9%

1 YEAR

1. Leland Thomson Reuters Vntr Cptl Idx A 33.6%


2. Morgan Stanley Insight A 30.2


3. Zevenbergen Genea Inv 29.2


4. Fidelity Advisor Growth Opps A 29.2


5. Baron Opportunity Retail 28.7


6. Virtus Zevenbergen Innovative Gr Stk A 26.6


7. TCW New America Premier Equities N 25.7


8. Franklin DynaTech A 25.0


9. Zevenbergen Growth Inv 24.9


10. Brown Advisory Growth Equity Inv 24.4
    CATEGORY AVERAGE 14.0%

3 YEARS

Returns are annualized through December 31, 2019. *Closed to new investors. SOURCE: © 2020 Morningstar Inc.

2019 MUTUAL FUND WINNERS