My Mutual Fund Portfolio
Yesterday, when I was visiting InvestorTrip, I was asked what mutual funds I hold. Actually, my mutual fund portfolio currently has 12 holdings, all of them are actively managed funds. The reason I don’t have any index funds in my taxable account is that when I started investing in mutual funds, I didn’t really expect I could hold them for very long (well, I have held some of them for nearly five years), so return was kind of my main goal. Also, Vanguard requires a minimum of $3,000 to open an account (and they have the ridiculous account maintenance fee). It was OK for a couple of funds, but too much if I want to diversity into different asset classes and sectors. On the other hand, lot of actively managed funds require much less to start investing and the fees weren’t terribly high as well. So eventually I chose active funds over index funds in taxable accounts and built the IRA portfolios with index funds.
So here’s a list of mutual funds I currently own.
| Fund | Value | %Gain | First purchase | Monthly purchase |
| ADVDX | $3,370 | 3.23 | 04/20/06 | $100 |
| BUFSX | $7,121 | 37.87 | 01/07/02 | $100 |
| CSVFX | $6,545 | 14.51 | 01/07/02 | $50 |
| CGMFX | $8,063 | 39.13 | 02/11/02 | $100 |
| DODGX | $12,625 | 43.04 | 01/07/02 | $100 |
| DODFX | $14,327 | 84.75 | 06/09/03 | $100* |
| OAKBX | $9,992 | 30.97 | 04/02/02 | $50 |
| PRSVX | $8,244 | 41.20 | 04/05/02 | $100 |
| TREMX | $1,297 | 17.85 | 11/07/05 | $50 |
| PRNEX | $2,726 | 20.02 | 04/05/05 | $50 |
| TAREX | $2,081 | 74.14 | 11/03/03 | $0 |
| TGLDX | $9,961 | 69.69 | 02/08/02 | $100* |
Most of my funds were first purchased in 2002 and I have been adding shares every month since then with the minimum amount allowed (dollar cost averaging), even during the period when the overall stock markets were pretty bad. Actually, those shares I purchased in 2002 and 2003 now produced much higher returns. So far, the top three funds with highest returns are DODFX (international fund), TAREX (real estate), and TGLDX (Gold), which didn’t surprise me as these three areas were very hot for the past five years and I am lucky to catch the fast growth at the early stage (Gold price in early 2002 was about $280/ounce, now it’s more than $630). Whether the trend will continue, however, is everybody’s guess.
A Morningstar instant X-Ray shows the following asset allocation:
*I don’t have automatic investment plan for DODFX and TGLDX, though I made purchase almost every month when, for example, foreigh markets (mainly European markets) were lower or when Gold price took a hit. If you are looking for international fund to invest, I recommend DODFX as Dodge & Cox is a respected company in the mutual fund industry with solid tracking records. They have only four funds, but two of them are closed to new investors. If you want to get it, you probably want to do it quick because Dodge & Cox tends to close the funds when they see the assets grow too fast.
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Trackbacks & Pingbacks
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- Pingback by 2006 Year-End Review I: Financial Moves - The Sun’s Financial Diary - Accumulating wealth is like building The Great Wall, one brick at a time on December 29, 2006 @ 2:27 pm
- Pingback by DODFX — Get in Before It’s too Late - The Sun’s Financial Diary - Accumulating wealth is like building The Great Wall, one brick at a time on January 12, 2007 @ 10:07 am
- Pingback by Invest in Gold (I) — Buy Gold - The Sun’s Financial Diary - Accumulating wealth is like building The Great Wall, one brick at a time on February 6, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
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9 Comments
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Your Dodge & Cox fund has performed incredibly.
Congrats on the awesome fund pick.
I currently hold Fidelity’s 2050 Freedom Fund (FFFHX), and am looking for a another fund to swap into. Fund investing is a new territory for me (I spend most of my time evaluating stocks), so thanks for spelling out your portfolio.
Dodge & Cox funds definitely deserve a look.
Yes, Dodge & Cox is a great mutual fund company. They have strict rules in picking stocks to invest and have a committee to oversee the investment. It’s a small company with a long history. I am lucky to get in before they closed the door. If you are looking for international exposure, then I definitely recommend DODFX.
Wow. their expense ratios are low, only 0.67%. No wonder it’s so hard to get into this fund.
17% YTD gains on the stock fund, are you kidding me?!?