Mutual Funds Weekly Roundup: June 14

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 and international equities were all up this week.

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

• Small Cap Growth Equities is the best-performing mutual funds subcategory based on 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 industry.

U.S. Equities – U.S. equity markets were up big this week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average increasing by 2.77% to close at 25,317. The Dow is now up 2.42% on a year-to-date basis. The S&P 500 also gained 1.62% for the week to close at 2,779, which is up 3.94% year-to-date. The NASDAQ Composite increased 1.21% to close at 7,646. NASDAQ is still the best-performing index among major indices on a year-to-date basis and is up 10.75%.

The best-performing sector was telecommunications, up 3.36% for the week, but it still remains negative on a year-to-date basis, down 7.12%. This sector consists of companies like AT&T Inc (NYSE:T), which was up 5.46% for the week.

International Equities – The international markets were also up this week, with the MSCI Developed Market Index gaining 0.96% to close at 2,010. The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 0.54% to close at 1,135. Finally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 also saw a large gain of 2.36% to close at 22,695.

Commodities – The commodities markets were mostly up this week, with the exception of crude oil, which fell $0.07 per barrel to close at $65.74. The price of gold increased by $3 per troy ounce to close at $1,298. Copper prices saw an increase of $0.20 and now trades at $3.30.

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

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields were up this week, with the 2-year Treasury increasing by 3 bps to now yield 2.50%. The 10-year Treasury yield increased 5 bps and now yields 2.95%. The 30-year Treasury increased 4 bps to yield 3.09%.

Municipal Bonds – Municipal yields were all up this week, with the exception of 2-year AAA-rated bonds, which fell by 10 bps to yield 1.67%. The 10-year AAA-rated bonds saw an increase of 1 bps, while the 30-year AAA-rated bonds also increased by 5 bps, to now yield 3.03%. Municipal bond fund flows turned positive this week, as inflows stood at $74 million. The largest credit spread for the five-year securities increased to 78 bps for the week.

Explore our Mutual Fund Education section to learn more about important mutual fund concepts.

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 June 8, 2018.

Top-performing fund: Leland Thomson Reuters Venture Capital Index Fund (LDVIX)

One of the fund’s largest holdings is Adobe Systems Inc (NASDAQ:ADBE), which is up over 43% on a year-to-date basis.

Top 5 Performers

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis as of June 8, 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.