How did your funds fare in 2007?

**m3racer** · 01-01-2008, 10:18 AM

Are all of these in a retirement account?

**Fern** · 01-01-2008, 10:28 AM

I think i did pretty darn well.

I invest only in mutual funds, about 85% stocks/15% bonds. All but about $20K that was in my 401k was invested with T. Rowe Price, about $291K in tax-deferred accounts and the remainder, about $145K in taxable monies.

My total growth since January 1, 2007 was $36,800.

Looking at just the TRP accounts, I have 12 funds, with an average time held of 8 years. (I have 2 accounts i have held for 15 years.) So you can see i'm largely a buy-and-hold investor.

Looking at just the 1 year performance, my 2 best performing funds this year were:
Mid Cap Growth: 25.71%!!
International Stock: 25.86%!!!

I got solid returns on Equity Income (14.56%), Equity Index 500 (16.07%), Small Cap Stock (11.59%), Small Cap Value (12.84%), and Value (15.55%).

My bond funds did a little less well: High Yield: 8.11%, Spectrum Income, 8.10% and New Income a dismal 4.77%. But that's ok as most of my money is in stocks.

My total average return for all T. Rowe Price mutual funds for 2007 is: 11.93%.

Perhaps being a little more realistic, if i track my returns based not on the one year returns but over the total years i've held the fund, my returns look like this:

Equity Income 15.93%
Equity Income Roth IRA: 13.12%
Equtiy Index 500 IRA 15.10%
Equtiy Index 500 taxable acct: 15.10%
Mid Cap Growth 11.70%
Small Cap Stock 16.60%
Small Cap Value 11.15%
Value 17.57%
Int. stock: 6.04% (Notice the huge different in 07 performance compared to this, which reflects the "10 years or since inception" performance...in other words, this fund was a dog for a long time, but not this year!)
High Yield 10.85%
New Income 4.46%
Spectrum Income 8.10%

So i estimate my average annual return for ALL my funds for the ENTIRE time i've owned them is: 12.14%, a bit better than my average annual return for 2007.

Now of course i have varying amounts invested in each of these funds, but still, i have a rough idea of where i stand here.

Steve, can you spell out the names of your funds? Which one did negative 13%?

**disneysteve** · 01-01-2008, 01:20 PM

Originally posted by m3racer View Post

Are all of these in a retirement account?

All but two are.

**disneysteve** · 01-01-2008, 01:24 PM

Originally posted by Fern View Post

Steve, can you spell out the names of your funds? Which one did negative 13%?

That would be my real estate fund, Cohen and Steers Realty Shares. Fortunately, I've got a pretty small stake in that fund and it had a great run in the previous years.

**Ima saver** · 01-01-2008, 01:45 PM

I did pretty good in my american century funds. Ultra did 22.83% and Heritage had a returnof 45.77%

**Broken Arrow** · 01-01-2008, 02:07 PM

Mine is fairly simple. Just 5 funds, all retirement.

Balanced (American): 5.70%
Sel Large Cap Value (Davis): 4.03%
NFJ Small Cap Val (Allianz): 6.09%
Sel Mid Cap Growth II (TRP): 15.69%
EuroPacific Growth (American) : 18.05%

The returns aren't so impressive either, but I'm not trying to chase performance here so much as just following my asset allocation. Steady as she goes.

Hopefully, I'll get to start my taxable started this year, and get higher returns.

**safari** · 01-01-2008, 03:55 PM

Overall, it's been a pretty good year for me.

FICDX 35.02%
FLVCX 17.90%
FSDAX 17.81%
FSLBX -0.15%
FVDFX 9.71%
JAOSX 27.76%
MCHFX 70.14%
MPYMX 28.47%
MUHLX -9.66%
RYVPX 3.24%
WWNPX 21.14%

**disneysteve** · 01-01-2008, 04:37 PM

Wow, safari. That China fund was smoking! I had that with HRTVX a few years back when small caps were on a tear, also over 70% for the year. Gotta love returns like that.

**Scanner** · 01-02-2008, 06:42 AM

You guys own way too many funds.

JAOSX: 47%
SLV: 11%
TRBCX: 13%

Averaged 23.66%

We have target funds for college - I don't know their returns.

I hoping by year end I cross $100,000K to add another mutual fund/ETF to my mix. However, that's a big if . . .if a recession looms in our future.

I have my eye on DisneySteve's Cohen and Steers Realty Shares that lost him money.

Wanna sell it to me, DisneySteve? C'mon sell me that dog!

**disneysteve** · 01-02-2008, 07:15 AM

Originally posted by Scanner View Post

You guys own way too many funds.

I do own too many funds, but it wasn't really by choice. DW worked at one job from 2005 to 2007 and was in the 403b plan. That's where the two Oppenheimer funds came from. Now she is at another job and in their 401k plan. That's where 2 more funds came from. If not for that, we'd only have 6 funds which would be much more reasonable. I think I'll roll over her 403b into her Vanguard IRA. She doesn't have that much in the account and it would simplify recordkeeping.

**safari** · 01-02-2008, 07:19 AM

Originally posted by Scanner View Post

You guys own way too many funds.

JAOSX: 47%
SLV: 11%
TRBCX: 13%

Averaged 23.66%

We have target funds for college - I don't know their returns.

I hoping by year end I cross $100,000K to add another mutual fund/ETF to my mix. However, that's a big if . . .if a recession looms in our future.

I have my eye on DisneySteve's Cohen and Steers Realty Shares that lost him money.

Wanna sell it to me, DisneySteve? C'mon sell me that dog!

I own the same JAOSX fund. How were you able to earn 47%, if the fund had 27.76% YTD return (link)? Want to share your secret?

**jIM_Ohio** · 01-02-2008, 08:41 AM

In looking at the ytd performance on T Rowe's web site, it does not match the "1 year" return, so these numbers might be premature.

Using ytd performance for the funds:

PRFDX (T Rowe Equity Income) 3.30%
PRWCX (T Rowe Capital Appreciation) 4.56%
RPMGX (T Rowe Mid Cap Growth) 17.65%
PRDMX (T Rowe Diversified Mid Cap Growth) 13.59%
PRNHX (T Rowe New Horizons) 6.25%
PRDSX (T Rowe Diversified Small Cap Growth) 9.35%
TRIGX (T Rowe International Growth and Income) 8.71%
PRIDX (T Rowe International Discovery) 16.57%
TROSX (T Rowe Overseas Stock) 9.43%
RPSIX (T Rowe Spectrum Income) 6.19%

I did not own all funds for all days of year. Bolded funds were new positions for 2007. These funds listed are all in retirement accounts (my Roth, wife's Roth, my rollover, wife's rollover). Some funds are in more than one account, most are only in one account).

I am planning on calculating an internal rate of return (which is the only return which really matters) for 2008.

My 401k:
VFINX (Vanguard 500 index) 5.39%
VWNFX (Vanguard Windsor II) 2.23%
VBMFX (Vanguard Bond index) 6.92%
VEXPX (Vanguard Explorer) 5.06%
RYTFX (Royce Total Return) 2.30%
VTRIX (Vanguard International Value) 12.66%
VEXMX (Vanguard Extended Market Index) 4.33%

it should be noted my bond fund outperformed everything in 401k except international fund. HMMM.

**jIM_Ohio** · 01-02-2008, 08:45 AM

Originally posted by disneysteve View Post

I do own too many funds, but it wasn't really by choice. DW worked at one job from 2005 to 2007 and was in the 403b plan. That's where the two Oppenheimer funds came from. Now she is at another job and in their 401k plan. That's where 2 more funds came from. If not for that, we'd only have 6 funds which would be much more reasonable. I think I'll roll over her 403b into her Vanguard IRA. She doesn't have that much in the account and it would simplify recordkeeping.

If you have control over your asset allocation, then the number of funds is not really the way to determine if you are doing something right or wrong. Between my wife and I, I think we own close to 20 funds. Not a huge issue because I know allocation of each account (401k-me, 401k-her, IRAs combined) are 73% domestic stock, 25% international and 2% bonds. In June this increases to 3% bonds, and the IRA contributions are adjusted each month to keep percentages in line (43% large cap, 15% mid cap, 15% small cap,15% international large cap, 10% international small cap).

**disneysteve** · 01-02-2008, 08:49 AM

Originally posted by jIM_Ohio View Post

I am planning on calculating an internal rate of return (which is the only return which really matters) for 2008.

This is a great point. It doesn't matter how the fund did. It matter how your investment in the fund did.

If you are dollar cost averaging, putting perhaps $50/month into the fund, you didn't earn that YTD return because you didn't have all of your money in the fund the whole time. If the fund was up sharply early in the year and then lost ground the rest of the year, they might still be posting a positive YTD return but you could have earned much less, or even lost money.

How did your funds fare in 2007?