Mutual Funds Weekly Roundup: March 1

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 all saw gains for the second week in a row.

• The best-performing fund for 2018 on a year-to-date basis is the Leland Thomson Reuters Vntr Cptl Idx I (LDVIX).

• Latin American Equities is the best-performing mutual funds sub-category 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.

U.S. Equities – U.S. equity markets were up the second week in a row after a rocky start in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.43%, to close at 25,310, and is now up 2.39% on a year-to-date basis. The S&P 500 also had an increase of 0.59% for the week, to close at 2,747, and is up 2.76% year-to-date. The NASDAQ Composite increased 1.12%, to close at 7,337. The NASDAQ is the best-performing index among most major indices on a year-to-date basis and is up 6.29%.

This week’s best-performing sector again for the second week in a row is information technology, which was up 1.72%. This sector consists of companies like Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), which was up 3.79% for the week.

International Equities – International markets were up this week, with the exception of the MSCI Developed Market Index that fell 0.44%, to close at 2,065. The MSCI Emerging Market Index had an increase of 1.42%, to close at 1,216. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also gained this week by 1.99%, to close at 21,893.

Commodities – The commodities markets were mixed this week, with crude oil increasing by $2.21 per barrel to close at $63.55. The price of gold fell $24 per troy ounce, to close at $1,328. Copper also decreased by $0.03, to close at $3.21.

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields were up this week, with the exception of the 10-year Treasury. The 2-Year Treasury gained 5 bps to yield 2.24%. The 10-year Treasury yield remained unchanged and yields 2.87%. The 30-year Treasury yield increased by 3 bps and now yields 3.16%.

Municipal Bonds – Municipal yields were mixed this week, with the 2-year AAA-rated bonds, dropping 1 bps to yield 1.54%. The 10-year AAA-rated bonds saw no change, while the 30-year AAA-rated bonds saw an increase of 1 bps to yield 3.08%. Municipal bond funds returned back to inflows and saw an increase of $366 million in assets this week. The largest credit spread for the five-year securities decreased to 65 bps for the week.

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

In this context, you can also read about essential tax tips for mutual funds, so that you are aware of key strategies to limit your tax burden.

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 February 23, 2018.

Top-performing fund: Leland Thomson Reuters Vntr Cptl Idx I (LDVIX).

The fund’s largest holding is MasterCard Inc. (NYSE:MA), which is up over 16% on a year-to-date basis.

Top 5 Performers

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis as of February 23, 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.

We provide this report on a weekly basis. To stay up to date with mutual fund market events, return to our News section.