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July 11, 2013 at 10:21 AM
Though they declined 2.1% in June, equity funds remained in the black for the second quarter, returning 0.31% and producing a fourth consecutive quarter of plus-side returns, according to Lipper’s latest research.
U.S.-diversified equity funds improved 2.29% on average versus a decline of 2.20% on average for world equity funds.
“Although many stocks set new highs during the quarter, investors turned their attention to domestic, quasi-defensive, and out-of-favor issues,” explained Tom Roseen, head of research services for Lipper, in a report released on Tuesday.
Commodities specialty funds improved 7.38% in the April-to-June period, followed by consumer services funds at 6.20%. Health/biotechnology funds gained 4.97%, and financial services funds ticked up 4.93%.
On the downside, precious metals equity funds declined a whopping 35.02% — the worst performer in the equity universe, according to Lipper. This was driven in large part by the 23.26% drop in the price of gold.
Value-focused funds produced returns of 3.13% on average in Q2 versus returns of 2.48% for core funds and 2.4% for growth funds.
In June, the top-performing funds included short-bias products at 3.73% and Japan-focused equity funds at 2.28%.
