(PUB) Investing 2015

Fantastic 50 Continued From Cover

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third of assets overseas—quite a bit more than you’d typically see at a large-growth fund.

that’s right in the middle of the mid-cap universe. That really shouldn’t work, but Tillinghast just keeps on going. Expenses came down a bit in 2013 , helping it get into the cheapest quintile. The fund’s asset bloat keeps it out of Gold, but the Silver rating reflects Tillinghast’s skill and dedication to the fund. Fidelity OTC FOCPX Gavin Baker passed the five-year post to become eligible for this list. Kalra’s successor at Fidelity OTC has done a fine job continuing the fund’s run of success. Baker’s aim is to beat the Nasdaq composite by finding its best growth names. So far, he’s beaten it by about 100 basis points per year. Be warned, though, that the fund’s focus on the odd duck Nasdaq index makes it tech-heavy and probably better used as a niche holding than a core investment. Oakmark Equity & Income OAKBX This has long been a stellar fund, and it finally made it to the cheapest quintile of moderate-allocation funds when expenses fell to 0 . 74% in 2014 . Clyde McGregor is nearing his 20 th year on the fund, and he’s joined by three comanagers who came on board in 2013 : Colin Hudson, Matthew Logan, and Ed Wojciechowski. The strategy is a typical Oakmark one of seeking good companies trading at sizable discounts to Oakmark’s estimate of their intrinsic value. That leads to top holdings like Oracle ORCL , GM GM , and Nestle . The fund typically has well more in equity than bonds. Besides the newbie, we have 10 returning American Funds. American is well-designed to check all the boxes. It has long-tenured managers who put their money where their mouths are. In addition, nearly all American Funds are cheap. The funds aren’t flashy, but they have rewarded patient investors for many years. Berwyn Income BERIX Buying companies with strong balance sheets, dividends, and strong cash flow has made this fund a winner. Returning to the Fantastic 50 American Funds

Fidelity Blue Chip Growth FBGRX Sonu Kalra recently passed the five-year tenure mark in style at this Bronze-rated fund. He uses a fairly typical Fidelity growth strategy of seeking out strong earnings growth with a strong emphasis on tech. In fact, Kalra’s background is in tech as he ran tech funds for Fidelity and managed the tech-laden Fidelity OTC FOCPX . The big question here is how will his record look after a down market? At Fidelity OTC , he lost 46% in 2008 , though he did beat his benchmark over his entire tenure there. Fidelity International Discovery FIGRX A dip in fees brought this Bronze-rated fund to the Fantastic 50 . In 2014 , expenses fell to 0 . 93% from 0 . 98% , making it a pretty cheap foreign fund. Bill Kennedy has been on the fund for 10 years, and he’s outpaced his benchmark by more than 100 basis points a year. Although you can crunch a lot of data in your office, Kennedy is a big believer in getting out to visit businesses around the globe. Fidelity Leveraged Company Stock FLVCX This fund is making its debut on the list because its Morningstar Risk rating came down to Above Average from High. As the name makes plain, the idea here is to buy companies with leveraged balance sheets, which can thus provide a boost when prospects improve. Of course, that’s a dangerous game as recessions can be very hard on leveraged companies. The fund is the brain child of Fidelity’s high-yield team, which is accustomed to figuring out which leveraged companies are good bets to survive and pay their debt. So, in a way, this is a high-yield fund on steroids. Tom Soviero has thumped the market in his 12 years on the fund, but be prepared to suffer in the next downturn. Fidelity Low-Priced Stock FLPSX Joel Tillinghast has defied the laws of physics by producing great results long after this fund should have crumbled under the weight of assets. He crams $46 billion into a portfolio of more than 900 stocks while maintaining an average market cap