American Funds

CAIBX- Europe Exposure

lawmanlou — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:59:39 GMT

Guys,

Do I have enough Europe exposure with CAIBX, or should I shift some over to American Funds Europe/ Pacific Growth ?

Lou

Treasuries outside of Caibx

liman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:26:12 GMT

There has been some discussion lately about adding US treasuries to one's holdings, to offset paper losses during equity/bond drops, such as in 2008.

I hold Caibx. The fund holds treasury bonds, various govt agency bonds and cash.

Is it advisable or necessary to hold a treasury bond fund outside of Caibx? Or am I better off investing that extra amount into Caibx?

Liman

What do I owe my AF broker

m3wejr — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:51:03 GMT

My original broker who put me in caibx has changed jobs to a national outfit. I did not go with him but consolidated to another large brokerage house and transfered my caibx to my existing account with this other house.

The original broker was paid 1% year management for caibx for the 4 years he was independent. I can add to my present account with the new broker without charge.

I am somewhat torn on what more I owe broker #1 for introducing me to AF in the first place. Paying 1% annually for addition contributions with his new house vs. nothing for adding to my present account. I feel kind of bad for doing this, but of course he did not suffer any during my losses in 2008 and early 2009. any opinions on this ethic situation.

drjay

current data on money flows

Linus — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:00:16 GMT

In spite of some recovery of equity markets, not all fund companies are faring equally well.

"Among the five largest fund companies, American Funds remains the only one to experience outflows year to date. Unlike other large firms that saw flows toward fixed-income funds compensate for outflows in equity funds, American funds fixed-income funds have not had the same pull. In October, investors pulled nearly $2 billion out of the firm, bringing the estimated outflows for 2009 to $21 billion."

http://corporate.morningstar.c....dFlows.pdf

Fund Family.......Total Net Assets ($ billion)
Vanguard................$1,002
American Funds..........$866
Fidelty........................$692
PIMCO Funds.............$308

portfolio mix

johnsomk — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:01:43 GMT

I am in the process of rolling over a 401K from a previous employer to an EJ account. My advisor and I are looking at a portfolio of American Funds and I'd like to get the opinions from some of the long time American investors on here. The rollover is for $200,000 split equally between:

EuroPacific AEPGX, New Perspective ANWPX, Fundamental Investors ANCFX, Capital Income Builder CAIBX, and Capital World Bond CWBFX.

Love to hear your thoughts and thanks!

IGAAX

ralphhh — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:03:31 GMT

I spent some time today at my Edward Jones broker going over my portfolio. I'm 68 (retired) and things are pretty well in place.

However, we both agreed that I should add some additional International exposure. Eventually, we thought that International Growth & Income Fund (IGAAX)could be a good choice.

Since I have a number of American Funds, I'm not that concerned about the load (which is small).

The only 'problem' I see is that the Fund is relative new.

Any opinions regarding IGAAX?

Thanks in advance.

Ralph

CAIBX - time to get out for a while?

liman — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:48:26 GMT

I am considering selling my CAIBX and parking the proceeds in the AF money market fund.

Selling now allows me to sit out this market uncertainty for a while.

If the nav should drop, which is looking likely, I would have the option of buying back in later and increasing my share count and income.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Liman

Contributing to AF mutual fund over time or all at once, which is better?

erikasch — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:39:17 GMT

I have contributed to my IRA the past two years by putting in 5k all at once each year into an American Fund mutual fund, different funds both years. I'm in the process of figuring out my budget this year and was curious if people thought it was best to put in 5k again all at once or if it would be better to set up an automatic transfer so that I'm doing it each paycheck.

I know the benefits of doing it a little bit over time is that you will be buying low at least part of the time. But I always thought a benefit of doing all 5k at once would be if I did it at the beginning of the year, it would have the full year to grow.

I was wondering if anyone else had a preference, it seems like to me most people would choose the over time method as opposed to all at once.

hi help please someone who know spanish and inglish

pabloc1718 — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:23:10 GMT

what does mean this words, cuold you please translete this for me with a little explanaition? better in spanish

options insight

analyst picks

newsletters

funds analyst picks

picks by categories

fund pick performance

analyst pans

en resumen tengo problemas con la palabra picks y pans principalmente

American Funds Proxy Vote

shtoss — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:59:09 GMT

Hello everyone,

As an American Funds shareholder, I am being asked to vote on the recent proposal that includes various amendments to the existing investment policies.

I reviewed the proposal, and some of the changes (mostly related to the fundamental investment policies in proposal 3) seemed to be questionable to me.

I was wondering what other American Funds shareholders think about the proposal.

Thank you,

Mike.

American Funds retired shareholders

liman — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:01:37 GMT

I have a few questions for other American Funds shareholders, who are either retired or close to retirement.

1) Are your investments all with American Funds or do you invest with other fund companies?

2) What American Funds are you holding in your portfolio?

3) What percentage of your investable dollars are you keeping aside in cash?

Thanks in advance.

Liman

LA times article on American Funds

liman — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:09:27 GMT

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-petruno24-2009oct24,0,2144480,print.column

Liman

Where can I find the standard deviations of stocks?

katharina — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:01:16 GMT

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can find the standard deviation for specific stocks? I know that morningstar uses SD in their calculations but I can't find the actual values anywhere.

I would appreciate some help.

Cheers, Katharina

American Funds "spring a leak" per M*

Linus — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:48:22 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/yjcuy45

"The outflows for U.S. stock funds in September can largely be attributed to American Funds."

"In total, investors pulled $1.8 billion out of American Funds in September, continuing a trend that has plagued the firm all year. For the year to date through September, the firm has registered outflows of $19.3 billion, while the other major firms had inflows."

All of that outflow in spite of the fact that AF's are purchased through advisors who are there to handhold during the bad times?

Menu of Funds/Fund Outflow

dtconroe — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:16:25 GMT

In the M* article of October 14 entitled "American Springs a Leak....", the article discusses inflows and outflows of money into US open-end mutual funds. The article discussed a basic trend: "Bond funds continued to capture the fast majority of the inflows in the third quarter. Meanwhile, flows into equity funds have been tepid in spite of the broad stock market recovery." The article continues by saying, "After the market's nose dive last year, many have sought safety in lower-volatility investments like bond funds." Then the article focuses more specifically on American Funds "springing a leak". "The outflows for US stock funds in September can largely be attributed to American Funds. Among the least popular U.S. equity funds in September were American Funds Washington Mutual (AWSHX), American Funds Growth Fund of America (AGTHX), and American Funds Investment Company of America (AIVSX) which saw outflows of $620 million, $334 million, and $417 million, respectively. In total investor pulled $1.8 billion out of American Funds in September...For the year to date through September, the firm has registered outflows of $19.3 billion, while other major firms had inflows." It then goes on to discuss American Funds compared to Fidelity and Vanguard. "Its key rivals, Vanguard and Fidelity, have a more diversified menu of funds, while American Funds mutual fund lineup is significantly skewed toward equities."

In response to these basic points, I would ask for a discussion on a couple of points: Why are the 3 American Funds so responsible for outflows, especially when 2 of them are usually considered very conservative funds? What other reason besides the M* theory about American having a less diverse menu of funds would account for its having the major outflows compared to the other 2 big funds? What does this article mean to investors on how they utilize American Funds exclusively or in combination with other fund companies?

dtconroe

CWGCX, broker and management fees paid?

gazelleNtense — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:51:42 GMT

I started purchasing shares of CWGCX on 01/20/2004. Thanks to help found here, I have found my dividend per share distribution history and dates of distribution. Now, I am trying to determine how much I have paid in broker and fund management fees since I started, 01/20/2004. Can this information be found online. I'm trying to bring my Morningstar portfolio information up to date.

Thanks for your help.

Are the return numbers on Am. F. web site distorted in their favor.

m3wejr — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:37:40 GMT

I have been somewhat critical in my Capitol Income blds. return for the 4 years I have invested. I have received some criticism and have taken and digested all comments.
My pension plan with Soloman Smith Barney has had after fees only about a 2.4% annualized return for the total fund over the past 10 yrs.

I looked on AF web site an notice that Capitol Income has over 5% return for same period. The note at the top says annual average return. This is totally different in my understanding then the more accurate annualized return which gives you true dollar results.

For instance, my understanding of annual average returns would be like if you loss 50% in one year, gained 50% the next year they would show a annual average return of 0%. Actually you would have lost (starting with 100$) 50 dollars in year one, gained 25$ in year two and have a (12.5%) annualized return. If I am correct, then this distorts the return in those years like last year where we had large losses.

I would apprecite comments on if I am correct and why then does AF use this technique. Thanks

drjay

Self-directed AF account?

UncleFutz — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:52:45 GMT

My finanacial advisor was bought out by UBS a couple of years ago. Lately, they've really been trying to hard-sell products, and now want to start charging $75 per account on top of whatever they glean off of my AF investments.

I pretty much self-direct the accounts via the AF website, and only use the advisor when I absolutely have to.

Does anyone know of a way to get out from under a financial advisor altogether and still maintain my AF investments?

Thanks, UF

CWGCX, dividend per share distribution?

gazelleNtense — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:27:35 GMT

I started purchasing shares of CWGCX on 01/20/2004. Is there a way online I can determine their dividend per share distribution history and dates of distribution since 01/20/2004? I'm trying to bring my Morningstar portfolio up to date. I know how much cash I have put in. I know the total CWGCX dividend reinvest. In order to track this fund in Morningstar, I need to know CWGCX's dividend per share history and dates of distribution.

Thanks for your help.

New World Fund

dtconroe — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:33:06 GMT

I am a huge fan of the American Funds International and Global Investing approach. Today, M* posted a current Analyst Fund evaluation of the New World fund. It is about the most conservative and diversified fund I know of that includes emerging markets, but balances it with bonds, cash, and broad diversification. It has an excellent history during down markets and is relatively low risk to other funds in its category. For a relatively conservative international investor, it offers something worth considering. For a long term investor who wants emerging market exposure, it offers a really interesting option. For me personally, I am a little too old and a little too conservative to consider this fund--my risk profile requires a little more diversification of the Europacific fund. If this is an interest category for investors, it may be worth looking at this Analyst Report and looking at its risk and performance history.

What's behind the REAL NAV numbers at American Funds

basora — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:06:45 GMT

This question came up recently: is the NAV price performance of American Funds due to the enormous daily in-flow (or out-flow) of cash or is it due to the performance of it's underlying investments/equities? (NAV is defined as: the dollar value of a single mutual fund share, based on the value of the underlying assets of the fund minus its liabilities, divided by the number of shares outstanding. Calculated at the end of each business day). No distinction is made between cash or equities in the "underlying assets" part of the equition. How can we be sure that the stellar performance of these funds is due to intelligent stock picking and not just the movement of cash (brought in by a very effective broker/dealer sales network)?

12b-1 fee

playbook — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:22:05 GMT

My FA and I recently discussed some alternatives to some of my American Fund investments, namely Bond Fund of America (Abndx), and Income Fund of America (Amecx). During our first discussion some weeks ago he admitted that AF's bond performance was not particularly good and could not come up with any good reason for me not to switch to some bond funds in Vanguard. He did say that he hoped that I valued his advice and wanted me to know that he would lose the 12b-1 fee if I switched to Vanguard. I was a little surprised that he brought that up since on many past occasions before I was an investor with him, he made a point of telling me that I could always count on him to recommend investment options that he truly believed were in my best interest. This week we talked about my selling Amecx and buying Vwinx. Again he could not come up with any serious arguments to keep Amecx other than Amecx has a higher % of equities and believes that could be an opportunity for better return in the near term. He acknowledges that Amecx did not perform as well during the past 18 months, and that Vwinx would probably be a better complement fund to my other holdings in American, but again remined me that he would not receive any compensation from Vanguard and if I valued his advice he would ask that I keep that in mind. I didn't say anything, but I didn't like it. He's a great guy and I really believe he wouldn't intentionally steer me wrong just for the fee, but I wish he hadn't mentioned it.

playbook

Do American Funds suck?

rklemaster — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:57:26 GMT

I have American funds (RGACX,RERCX) offered in my 401(k) at work, and I can't tell if I like them or hate them. They tend to do ok, but I've found that they charge high 12b-1 fees and some of the highest hidden advisory fees in the industry. But then I find that sometimes American funds are reviewed well, get high marks on Morningstar, and some of their funds are listed on the Money 70.

http://www.fundanalyze.com/IF/IF_ManagerFeesOver100Million.aspx
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Most-Profitable-Mutual-Funds-etfguide-14424384.html
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/How-have-the-10-Largest-Stock-etfguide-14073462.html
http://money.cnn.com/data/funds/expense_ratio/
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestfunds/2009/index.html

Paying high fees make me feel like a sucker and I hate throwing money down the drain, so what's the deal?

The Best Mutual Fund Families

TaylorZR — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:23:08 GMT

American Funds
iShares/Barclays
Ivy Funds
PIMCO/Allianz Funds
Vanguard Group
Franklin Templeton Investments
BlackRock
Fidelity/Fidelity Advisors
JPMorgan Asset Management
Natixis Funds

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/your-money/2009/07/30/the-best-mutual-fund-families_print.htm

M* Fund Company Performance Rankings

dtconroe — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:15:02 GMT

Morningstar has an article today of 3 year performance rankings. Like all Fund Company Rankings, you can debate what that means to any individual investor. American was #9, TRowe was #4, Vanguard was #5, etc. I suspect it does say something about how well Fund Companies handled the recent down and up markets as a major event in the last 3 years.