2011年共同基金业五虎

共同之处

    今年伊始，前景一片大好。随着对2011年经济强势复苏的乐观情绪高涨，1月份美国股票基金的资金流入额达到了160亿美元，创下继2006年那些好日子以来单月资金流入额的新高。此外，应税债券基金的资金流入额也达到了110亿美元。但到了夏季，复苏预期已被欧元区可能崩溃的担忧所取代。很快，经济可能再度下滑的担忧引发了市场动荡。对于大多数共同基金经理或基金投资者而言，没一个好消息。基金分析公司理柏（Lipper）的数据显示，截至10月份美国多元化股票基金平均下跌2%，而同期标准普尔500指数上涨了1.3%。固定收益基金的平均回报率也比巴克莱资本（Barclays Capital）美国综合债券指数（U.S. Aggregate Bond Index）落后了4个百分点。

    在这样的背景下，能够交出漂亮成绩单的基金自然显得更加鹤立鸡群。因此，我们决定将表现最突出的几支基金命名为《财富》杂志2011年共同基金全明星团队（Fortune's 2011 Mutual Fund All-Star Team）。当然，我们不想将一时的好运误以为真正的投资技巧。我们根据晨星公司（Morningstar）的数据先筛选出截至11月初今年表现最好的基金，再从中挑出过去五年回报率都在同业组中排名前20%的基金。最后，我们从晨星的不同分类中选出了5支基金。【多数收取常规费用，但有两家，富国银行（Wells Fargo）和Epoch的基金还收取佣金。】这5支基金的投资方式形式多样，但有一点是共同的：他们在2011年都证明了即便是在严峻的市场环境下，最优秀的基金经理也能为投资者实现收益。

富国银行优势成长基金

    基金经理：约瑟夫•艾伯哈迪、托马斯•奥格纳和布鲁斯•奥尔森

    交易代码：SGROX

    资产规模：70亿美元

    美国大型股平均回报率：0.25%

    今年迄今回报率：13.2%

    目前看好的投资：美国全食超市公司

    奥格纳看好这家高端有机天然食品零售商的增长潜力：他认为这家公司十年内能将美国门店数量从目前的300家增至900或1,000家。

    汤姆•奥格纳不太关注外在，至少对办公室是这样。他的基金设在密尔沃基寂静郊区的一间不起眼的办公室里。“我们的房地产成本可能是业内最低的，”他开玩笑地说。奥格纳真正着迷的是寻找被投资者低估的高成长公司。在他们的办公室里，41岁的奥格纳和另外两名联席经理每天都在筛选和讨论股票。今年他们选中的一支好股是铁路运营商Kansas City Southern，由于盈利增长强劲，截至11月份该股今年涨幅已经高达42%。苹果公司（Apple）作为这家基金的第一重仓股，也是今年增长的有力推动者。最近一个季度，苹果公司净利润增长54%。奥格纳认为，2012年iPhone销量将增长20%-25%。他简直不能相信这支股票当前股价仅为明年预期净利润的10倍。“股价几乎没有反映任何销售增长预期，”奥格纳说。

One thing in common

    The year started with so much promise. As optimism grew about a strong economic recovery in 2011, January turned into a record-setting month for the fund industry. Investors poured $16 billion into U.S. stock funds -- the biggest monthly haul since the heady days of 2006. They added another $11 billion to taxable bond funds. But by summer the recovery talk had been replaced by fears of a eurozone collapse. Pretty soon the specter of another economic downturn was causing turbulence. None of this was good news for most mutual fund managers or their investors. The average diversified U.S. stock fund fell 2% through October, according to Lipper, compared with a 1.3% rise in the S&P 500. And the average fixed-income fund trailed the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index by four percentage points.

    Against that backdrop, funds which did manage to produce stellar results stand out all the more. Which is why we decided to recognize top performers by naming them to Fortune's 2011 Mutual Fund All-Star Team. What we didn't want to do was mistake a hot streak for real investing skill. So after we screened for the year's top funds through early November, we again screened to make sure each fund's past returns ranked among the top 20% of peers over a five-year period, according to Morningstar. In the end, we selected five funds from different Morningstar categories. (Most charge average fees, but two, the Wells Fargo and Epoch funds, also carry a load.) The group has a wide range of approaches but one thing in common: Its members proved in 2011 that the best fund managers can earn gains for investors even in a punishing market.

Wells Fargo Advantage Growth Fund

    Managers: Joseph Eberhardy, Thomas Ognar, and Bruce Olson

    Ticker: SGROX

    Assets: $7 billion

    U.S. large growth average: 0.25%

    Year-to-date return: 13.2%

    What they like now: Whole Foods

    Ognar loves the upscale grocer's growth potential: He thinks it could expand from 300 stores in the U.S. now to 900 or 1,000 in a decade.

    Tom Ognar doesn't care much about appearances, at least when it comes to office space. He runs his fund out of a modest space in a sleepy suburb of Milwaukee. "Our real estate cost is probably the lowest in the industry," he jokes. What he's obsessed with is finding high-growth companies that investors are underestimating. From their cubicles, Ognar, 41, and his two co-managers spend their days running screens and debating stocks. One winner they picked this year was railroad operator Kansas City Southern, which leaped 42% through November on strong earnings growth. Apple is the fund's largest holding and was a big driver of this year's gains. The tech giant boosted earnings 54% in the latest quarter. Ognar thinks iPhone sales will grow 20% to 25% in 2012. He can't believe the stock is selling for just 10 times next year's projected earnings. "That's pricing in almost no growth," says Ognar.