This story appears in the
July 2002 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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There's something sweet about balanced funds. For one thing,
they make picking easy: When you can't decide whether a stock
or a bond fund is better for you, they fit the bill perfectly by
offering both wrapped up in one convenient package.
The Oakmark Equity & Income fund (OAKBX), around since 1995,
is a value fund managed by Clyde McGregor since its inception.
According to Lipper Inc., this balance fund is among the top
performing funds over the past one-year and five-year periods. So
far, it has a No. 1 Lipper leader rating in both consistent return
and preservation of capital categories.
With at least 50 percent of its assets invested in stocks and at
least 25 percent in Treasuries, the fund's got enough leeway to
pick up performance juice and, at the same time, keep itself
grounded, thanks to its high-quality, fixed-income holdings.
"This fund will look at anything on the stock side, from
the occasional micro-cap to the very large-cap," says
McGregor, "and on the bond side, everything from Treasuries to
nonrated issues."
The fund isn't kicking off the income it once did, but
that's because finding high-yield bonds hasn't been
easy-and McGregor is very picky about any high-yield securities he
adds. But the Oakmark Equity & Income fund is still a solid
performer and worth looking at when it's balance you seek.
Dian Vujovich is an author, syndicated columnist and
publisher of mutual fund investing site www.allaboutfunds.com.