Numbers are a wonderful way to lie, and the high annualized 10 year returns listed below should certainly be taken with a grain of salt. These are the highest annualized 10 year returns we will be able to report for at least a few years, very possibly for many years.
These returns absolutely exclude all of the extreme losses of that extended bear market, and begin their sample period with the robust, bounce-back gains of 2003. As the days tick by, the outsized gains of 2003 are falling off of the back end of the ten year period, and the 10 year annualized gains of virtually all funds will be dropping.
This listing rewards funds that may have had huge losses in the bear market but that snapped back sharply when the upturn began. By the same token, relatively speaking, it seriously understates the value of funds that may have preserved capital during the bear market, but that exhibited more modest returns in the period following.
Anyway, it is what it is, and here are the numbers (annualized), for the 28 funds from the MFM30 that have 10 year returns (Value in parenthesis is value of $10,000 invested at the beginning of the period:
1. Dodge and Cox International 13.96% ($36,942)
Somehow snuck into the 10 year lead when the Moron wasn't watching. As its nearly 50% gain of 2003 falls off of the sample period, it will be awfully hard for it to maintain its perch atop the list.
2. T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth 13.72
Our former leader, edged out of the #1 for now.
3. Yacktman 12.98
Maybe the most impressive of all, because we know it held up well during the bear market that preceded this 10 year period.
4. Litman Gregory International 12.41
Up 15 positions since our last 10 year list!
5. Janus Contrarian 12.32
Up 7 positions from our last list. This number will most likely be dropping like a rock.
6. Janus Mid-Cap Value 11.97
Another fund that held up well during the preceding bear market.
7. Fairholme 11.91 ($30,810)
Bruce Berkowitz has strongly implied that he expects to be able to compound in the high teens. We need some awfully good years ahead to achieve this.
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| "My favorite mutual fund has been compounding my capital at over 11% per annum!" |
8. FMI Large Cap 11.77 ($30,427)
9. Kinetics Paradigm 11.73
10. Fidelity Contra 11.43
11. Royce Special Equity 11.10
12. Columbia Value & Restructuring 10.94
13. T Rowe Price Spectrum Growth 10.86
14. Franklin Small-Midcap Growth 10.65
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| "I should have invested in the Yacktman fund...." |
15. FPA Crescent 10.53 ($27,215)
Certainly achieved its goal of equity-like returns, with less risk than the overall stock market. The Moron is impressed.
15. (tie) Mairs and Power Growth 10.53
17. Osterweis 10.19
18. Third Avenue Value 9.99
19. Vanguard Total Stock Market 9.83 ($25, 539)
This is what the market was willing to give you, minus just a teeny tiny bit.
20. Franklin Balance Sheet 9.82
21. Franklin Income 9.47
Certainly helped by falling interest rates, but a nice showing for a balanced fund nevertheless.
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| "Just what IS a mutual fund anyway?" |
22. Oakmark Balanced 9.40
23. Ariel 9.38
In contrast to its abysmal performance in 2008, Ariel actually did very well in 200, 2001, and 2002. So we can live with this showing.
24. Sequoia 9.33
25. Bridgeway Agressive Growth 8.70
Probably the biggest disappointment on the list. This low number will only be falling as the 54% gain of 2003 fall out of the sample period.
26. Templeton Growth 8.46
Up from last place. Held up great during the Bear Market of 2000-2002, so that makes this number more acceptable. We'll put this somewhere on the borderline between acceptable and disappointing. Looks like a good management team is now in place. Past few years have been encouraging. Looking for better days ahead.
27. Mutual Shares 8.38
A risk-averse fund one would expect to find near the bottom in a sample period such as this one.
28. Jenson Quality Growth 7.83 ($21,252)
ditto
