Equity Funds Have Strong Q1 in ’11

The Dow moved up 2.72%, and the Nasdaq gained 1.78%, and the markets produced their eighth-consecutive week of upside performance. The month’s leaders in early 2011 included natural-resource funds, up 5.15%. Gold funds dropped 10.78%, however.

In February, equity funds moved up 3.13%, with 94% of all equity and mixed-equity funds expanding their returns. The Dow and Nasdaq improved roughly 3%.  “Despite disappointing non-farm payroll news, Libya’s civil war and China’s 50 basis point rise in reserve requirements, investors remained upbeat,” Roseen shared.

The month’s developments also encompassed the resignation of Mubarak in Egypt and a rise in M&A deals. Gold funds gained 10%, in the face of political unrest, while natural resource funds moved up 6%.

In March, which included the tragic earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor problems in Japan, equity funds had a nearly 1% rise, with 71% of equity and mixed-equity funds in the black. Emerging-market funds rose 5%.

Overall for the quarter, natural-resource funds improved 13.66% and global natural-resource funds ticked up 9.31%. Gold funds dropped 0.45%. Within the world-equity group, EU-themed funds jumped 5.31%. Mixed-asset funds increased an average of 3.66%.

In January, high-yield funds rose better than 2%. They ticked up nearly 1.3% in February, when munis improved close to 1.6% and high-yield funds rose nearly 1.3%. In March, it was emerging-markets bond funds that topped the charts, with an improvement of 1.8%.

Future Concerns

Investors are closely watching earnings, and the markets are now focused on higher energy and raw material costs, Lipper analysts say. Oil prices, the devastation in Japan, unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, the European debt crisis, and monetary tightening in China are key influencing factors being watched, along with unemployment figures, housing inventories and other real-estate market developments.

As for flows, equity funds (excluding ETFs) have drawn more than $50 billion in the first three months of 2011. Fixed-income funds have attracted more than $34 billion, but money-market funds have lost $80 billion – with the bulk of these outflows taking place in January.