Monthly Fund Update

January was a brutal month in the market, pulling back from the bounce off the 11/21 lows. The S&P 500 decline -8.6%, with many other markets faring worse. The EAFE Index (EFA) lost -13.7%. Here is a quick roundup of how some of the funds in our universe fared:

Top 5 mutual funds:

• +3.4%: RiverNorth Core Opp
• +1.5%: Nakoma Absolute Return
• +0.6%: Ivy Global Natural Resources
• +0.1%: Rydex Managed Futures
• -0.7%: FPA Crescent

Bottom 5 mutual funds:

• -13.7%: Marsico 21st Century
• -13.6%: Trowe Emerg Europe
• -11.7%: Hodges Fund
• -11.6%: Artisan Internatl
• -11.1%: Barons Partners

Amongst the international etfs that we use, only Brazil (EWZ) was higher for the month, rising +1.5%. All other markets were lower, with German, Australia, and Russia hit the hardest.

In fixed income, the high-yield funds performed the best (+5%), while preferreds fared worst (-11.7%). International bond funds also declined for the month (ave -4%), while US funds gained +0.5 - 2.0%.

By style, large-cap outperformed small-cap and growth outperformed value. The relative winner was large growth (-2.7%) while the hardest hit was small value (-13.7%).

Note: some Beverly Investment Advisor clients have positions in most of the funds mentioned