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Mutual Funds Weekly Roundup: January 25

Brian Mathews Jan 25, 2018

MutualFunds.com provides weekly information about any material impact on the mutual funds industry due to major economic and corporate events around the world. In addition, performance statistics on the top funds and fund categories are also provided.

U.S. equities were up for the third week of 2018.

The best-performing fund for 2018 on a year-to-date basis is the Leland Thomson Reuters Venture Capital Index Fund (LDVAX).

Latin America Equities is the best-performing mutual funds subcategory based on the rolling-month returns.

Make sure to check out the previous edition of the Weekly Roundup to keep track of changing trends in the mutual funds space.

Market Wrap-Up

U.S. Equities – U.S. equity markets all showed gains in the third week of 2018, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average increasing 1.94%, to close at 26,072, and is now up 5.47% on a year-to-date basis. The S&P 500 also had an increase of 1.54% for the week to close at 2,810 and is up 5.11% year-to-date. The NASDAQ Composite was also up 1.73% and closed at 7,336. NASDAQ is the best-returning index among most major indices on a year-to-date basis and is up 6.27%.

The healthcare sector was this week’s top-performing sector, up 2.63%. This sector consists of companies like UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH), which was up 6.53% for the week and up 10.48% year-to-date.

International Equities – International markets were also up this week, with the MSCI Developed Market Index gaining 1.25%, to close at 2,152. The MSCI Emerging Index had an increase of 2.02%, to close at 1,233. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also gained this week by 0.41% and closed at 23,808.

Commodities – The commodity sector was mostly down with the exception of gold. Crude oil decreased by $0.43 per barrel to close at $63.37. The price of gold increased $11 per troy ounce to close at $1,332. Copper declined and fell by $0.05 to close at $3.19.

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields all gained again this week with the 2-year Treasury gaining 6 bps to yield 2.06%. The 10-year Treasury yield increased 11 bps, while the 30-year Treasury yield increased 8 bps and now yields 2.93%.

Municipal Bonds – Municipal yields all saw large increases with the exception of the 2-year AAA-rated bonds, which fell 1 bps to now yield 1.58%. The 10-year AAA-rated bonds saw an increase of 2 bps, while the 30-year AAA-rated bonds grew 1 bps to yield 2.80%. Municipal bond funds saw another huge inflow for the second week in a row and grew by $1.061 billion in assets under management. The largest credit spread for the five-year securities increased to 72 bps for the week.

Be sure to read important tips on how to invest in the right commodity-based mutual fund.

Explore our Mutual Funds Education section to learn more about important mutual funds concepts.

Performance Snapshot: Top Fund Category

The following table provides a list of the top-performing mutual fund subcategories for the previous week within the broader categories of the industry. In each of these subcategories, we have listed the top mutual funds based on the one-month return generated as of January 19, 2018.

Category	Top Subcategory	MTD Subcategory Return (%)	Top Subcategory Performer	Top Subcategory Performer	MTD Fund Return (%)	Performance Rationale
U.S. Equity Fund	Large Cap Growth Equities	5.88%	American Growth Fund Series Two E	AMREX	15.25%	The fund's second largest holding is GW Pharmaceuticals PLC (NYSE: GWPRF) which is up over 7.35% for the week.
International Equity	Latin America Equities	11.63%	BlackRock Latin America Instl	MALTX	11.83%	The fund's second largest holding is Itau Unibanco Holding SA (NYSE:ITUB) which is up over 16% YTD.
Commodities	Broad Basket	4.87%	Credit Suisse Commodity Acss Strat I	CRCIX	8.24%	With commodities mostly down, this fund was protected by being in 67% bonds.
Taxable Bonds	Emerging-Markets Taxable	3.86%	Goldman Sachs Local Emerg Mkts Dbt Instl	GIMDX	5.24%	With longer-term bond yields gaining (i.e. relatively more risky) this week, investors flocked to emerging market debt as an alternative.
Municipal Bonds	High Yield Municipal Bonds	0.29%	Oppenheimer Rochester® High Yld Muni A	ORNAX	1.11%	WIth yields increasing this week, high yield bonds managed to gain

Performance Snapshot: Top Fund

+*Top-performing fund: Leland Thomson Reuters Vntr Cptl Idx A (LDVAX).

The fund’s largest holding is in MasterCard (NYSE:MA), which is up over 11% for 2018.

Top 5 Performers

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis as of January 19, 2018. Only those funds that are rated five stars by Morningstar and that generated YTD returns greater than or equal to that achieved by the S&P 500 are included.

Name	Ticker	Category	YTD %	Net Expense Ratio	% of Assets in Top 10 Holdings	Total Assets $ (Millions)	Top Sector Invested
Leland Thomson Reuters Vntr Cptl Idx A	LDVAX	Large Blend	12.83%	1.99%	26.5%	$ 21	Technology
Oppenheimer Global Opportunities I	OGIIX	Global Equities	9.88%	0.73%	30.0%	$ 7,100	Technology
Equinox Chesapeake Strategy I	EQCHX	Managed Futures	9.69%	1.87%	46.9%	$ 106	Cash
T. Rowe Price Global Technology	PRGTX	Global Equities	9.63%	0.90%	55.4%	$ 6,180	Technology
PRIMECAP Odyssey Aggressive Growth	POAGX	Mid Cap Growth Equities	9.16%	0.64%	29.4%	$ 9,560	Technology