An article in the March 1, 2013 issue of Bottom Line/Personal titled “The Safer Portfolio” describes a portfolio of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) suggested by top financial adviser Louis P. Stanasolovich, CFP. He designed the portfolio to preserve assets and register modest gains even in tough times. In addition to the 12 funds presented in that article, here are eight more from Stanasolovich to consider. All but the Loomis Sayles Bond Fund usually carry sales loads (fees or commissions) and/or require high initial investments unless they are in a retirement account or are obtained through an adviser who offers versions that waive the load…
Angel Oak Multi-Strategy Income Fund (ANGCX) focuses on nontraditional fixed-income investments such as mortgage-backed securities, which are essentially bonds composed of large bundles of residential mortgage loans. These should do well as the housing recovery continues to strengthen. Recent yield: 2.2%. www.AngelOakMutualFunds.com
Eaton Vance Global Macro Absolute Return Fund (EIGMX) invests mostly in foreign-government bonds in more than 50 countries including Brazil, Germany and New Zealand. It tempers risk by keeping the maturities of the bonds short so their prices won’t be severely hurt by rising interest rates. Recent yield: 3.9%. www.EatonVance.com
FPA New Income Fund (FPNIX) is a short-term bond fund that seeks to earn a steady return above the inflation rate using AAA-rated corporate and government bonds. It hasn’t had a losing year since 1984. Recent yield: 2.9%. www.FPAFunds.com
Guggenheim Macro Opportunities Fund (GIOAX) has the freedom to invest in or to short (bet against) almost any fixed-income asset class in order to offer an attractive yield and low volatility. It is focused at present on corporate bonds, floating-rate securities and mortgage-backed securities. Recent yield: 4.7%. www.GuggenheimInvestments.com
JPMorgan Mortgage-Backed Securities Fund (OMBIX) specializes in fixed-income securities made up of residential mortgage loans and takes a very conservative approach. It owns mostly securities that are backed in case of default by the US government. Recent yield: 3.3%. www.JPMorganFunds.com
Loomis Sayles Bond Fund (LSBRX) is comanaged by Dan Fuss, widely regarded as one of the best bond investors in the country. He likes to buy bargain-priced, out-of-favor bonds in almost any country and fixed-income asset class, then wait for their prices to appreciate. Unlike the other funds in this bonus list, this one is no-load and requires a low minimum initial investment—just $2,500. Recent yield: 5.4%. www.LoomisSayles.com
First Eagle Global Fund (SGIIX) is a value-oriented fund that invests in stocks thought to be underpriced—recently, these included Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and health-care giant Sanofi. The fund smooths out potential ups and downs of the stock market by mixing in gold and government bonds. Performance: 11.%.* www.FirstEagleFunds.com
Nuveen Tactical Market Opportunities Fund (FGTYX) seeks to outperform short-term Treasury bills by four percentage points annually using a broad mix of global asset classes and strategies such as shorting (betting against) both bonds and stocks. Performance: 5.5%. www.Nuveen.com
*All performance figures are based on three-year annualized returns , through January 28, 2013, unless otherwise noted.
