 | Fund managers search for companies poised to grow rapidly relative to others, but are not limited to stocks that traditionally fall under the “growth” category. |
| US Equity Future Growth Fund Universe | | In August 2008, US Equity Future Growth unique (not counting share class) funds numbered 450 and held an estimated $446 billion in assets. This makes Future Growth the third largest US equity strategy both in terms of number of funds and AUM. Out of all US Equity mutual funds that we have strategy identified, Future Growth holds roughly 17% of all assets. |
| Relative Performance of Average Future Growth Fund vs. S&P 500 | Performance Notes | 
| Future Growth funds have a mixed performance record, at times dramatically under and out performing the S&P 500.
The average Future Growth fund has beat the market only half of the time in the past ten years. |
| US Equity Future Growth Average Fund Statistics
| Statistics Notes |  | Future Growth funds have turned in above average performance over the past decade. In addition, they are the second most volatile funds, based on standard deviation, and also have the second highest S&P 500 R2 when compared to other strategies.
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| Important Notes: Based on US equity active open end mutual funds identified as pursuing a Future Growth Strategy. Strategy identification was conducted in 2007 and 2008 so only funds identified in those years are included in the sample. Fund returns are net of automatically deducted fees and are the average of the returns on all share classes that existed that month. Excludes index, allocation, mixed asset, and 529 funds. Statistic reported above are simple averages across funds. The Average US Fund is the simple average across all active US equity funds regardless of whether they have been strategy identified. The S&P 500 TR Idx is the S&P 500 Total Return Index that includes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains, and the reported statistics are based on monthly index total returns. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE.Source: July 2008 Thompson and AthenaInvest databases. | Returns for the period 1998-2007 | 1 Year, 3 Year, 5 Year, and 10 Yr are as of December 31, 2007 | Standard Deviation and R-Squared are three year averages during the period 1998 - 2007 * The Rank below the Performance Chart and the Strategy Rank contained in the Statistics Table represent the rank of this strategy versus the nine other strategies in US Equity. The number 1 represents the highest value for the period, while 10 represents the lowest.
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International Equity Future Growth Fund Universe
| | In August 2008, International Equity Future Growth unique (not counting share class) funds numbered 62 and held an estimated $58 billion in assets. This makes Future Growth the fourth largest international equity strategy both in terms of number of funds and AUM. Out of all International Equity mutual funds that we have strategy identified, Future Growth holds roughly 6% of all assets. |
| Relative Performance of Average Future Growth Fund vs. MSCI EAFE | Performance Notes | 
| Future Growth funds perform more consistently in the international arena than they do in the US.
The average Future Growth fund failed to beat the market only three times in the past ten years. |
| International Equity Future Growth Average Fund Statistics
| Statistics Notes |  | Future Growth funds have turned in above average performance over the past decade. In addition, they are the third most volatile funds, based on standard deviation, and also have a low MSCI EAFE R2 when compared to other strategies.
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| Important Notes: Based on international equity active open end mutual funds identified as pursuing a Future Growth Strategy. Strategy identification was conducted in 2007 and 2008 so only funds identified in those years are included in the sample. Fund returns are net of automatically deducted fees and are the average of the returns on all share classes that existed that month. Excludes index, allocation, mixed asset, and 529 funds.Statistic reported above are simple averages across funds. The Average Int'l Fund is the simple average across all active international equity funds regardless of whether they have been strategy identified. The MSCI EAFE Idx is the MSCI EAFE Total Return Index that includes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains, and the reported statistics are based on monthly index total returns.PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE.Source: July 2008 Thompson and AthenaInvest databases. | Returns for the period 1998-2007 | 1 Year, 3 Year, 5 Year, and 10 Yr are as of December 31, 2007 | Standard Deviation and R-Squared are three year averages during the period 1998 - 2007 * The Rank below the Performance Chart and the Strategy Rank contained in the Statistics Table represent the rank of this strategy versus the nine other strategies in International Equity. The number 1 represents the highest value for the period, while 10 represents the lowest.
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Future Growth Style Grid
| What does this chart tell me? | 
| This chart maps funds from a system you may be familiar with (The Style Grid) to one you may just be learning (Strategy Based Investing). Each box contains the number of unique US Equity funds pursuing a particular strategy that reside in a particular P/E Ratio / Capitalization range. The chart does not include funds that did not report Average P/E and/or Average Market Capitalization. |
Note: Funds sorted into thirds based on average PE and into thirds based average MC. To be categorized small-cap value, a fund has to have a lower third average market cap and a lower third PE. Other grid boxes populated in a similar manner.
Source: August 2008 Thomson Financial and AthenaInvest databases. Example of a Future Growth Fund Excerpt taken from the Alger Funds (All Funds) prospectus dated March 1, 2008:
The Funds’ Manager, Fred Alger Management, Inc., (“Alger Management” or the “Manager”) believes that these companies tend to fall into one of two categories: - HIGH UNIT VOLUME GROWTH Vital, creative companies which offer goods or services to a rapidly-expanding marketplace. They include both established and emerging firms, offering new or improved products, or firms simply fulfilling an increased demand for an existing product line.
- POSITIVE LIFE CYCLE CHANGE Companies experiencing a major change which is expected to produce advantageous results. These changes may be as varied as new management, products or technologies; restructuring or reorganization; or merger and acquisition.
This is not an investment recommendation, only an example of a fund pursuing this strategy. Below are the fund complexes that offer the most Future Growth funds, as well as the complexes that specialize in Future Growth.
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The above do not represent investment recommendations. There are many complexes offering Future Growth funds and so the lists are illustrative only and are not intended to be exhaustive.
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Future Growth
