- Choose A Fund
- Global Resources Fund
- Gold and Precious Metals Fund
- World Precious Minerals Fund
- China Region Fund
- Eastern European Fund
- Global Emerging Markets Fund
- Global MegaTrends Fund
- All American Equity Fund
- Holmes Growth Fund
- Tax Free Fund
- Near-Term Tax Free Fund
- US Gov't Savings Fund
- US Treasury Securities Cash Fund
Global Emerging Markets Fund
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Fourth Quarter 2011
Strengths
- The fund’s exposure to Indonesia, India, Thailand, Turkey and Peru made positive contributions to the performance relative to its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
- Stock selection in the energy and health care sectors helped the fund’s performance.
- Top contributors to fund performance in the quarter were TNK-BP Holding, Restoque Comercio et Confeccoes de Roupas, and Credicorp Ltd.
Weaknesses
- The fund underperformed its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, in the fourth quarter.
- The fund’s defensive position negatively affected fund performance.
- The fund’s underweight position in China, Brazil and South Africa had negative contributions to fund performance.
- The fund’s exposure to technology companies in Taiwan, luxury goods, and chemical and base metals were detrimental to performance since those subsectors sold off toward the end of the quarter.
- With likely sources of funding not being sufficient to cover the size of the European bailout fund, the European Central Bank has no choice but to follow in the footsteps of the U.S. Federal Reserve and to expand its balance sheet.
- China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries have also begun easing monetary cycles in order to defend their economic growth.
Threats
- In spite of policy fine-tuning by the Chinese government, China’s GDP growth is expected to continue to slow down in the next couple of quarters.
- The property market in China is seeing a drastic drop in transaction volume, but a slow drop in price, making it difficult to predict when or if the government will lift housing curbs.
- Fiscal austerity in the eurozone is likely to weaken demand from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
Past performance does not guarantee future results.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Total Net Return Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance in emerging market countries on a net return basis (i.e., reflects the minimum possible dividend reinvestment after deduction of the maximum rate withholding tax.) Holdings in the Global Emerging Markets Fund as a percentage of net assets as of 12/31/2011: TNK-BP Holding 2.85%, Restoque Comercio et Confeccoes de Roupas 1.76%, Credicorp Ltd. 1.97%.
Net Asset Value
as of 02/03/2012
- Global Resources Fund
PSPFX $10.26 +0.13 - Gold and Precious Metals Fund
USERX $14.05 -0.21 - World Precious Minerals Fund
UNWPX $14.94 -0.13 - China Region Fund
USCOX $7.76 +0.03 - Eastern European Fund
EUROX $9.13 +0.08 - Global Emerging Markets Fund
GEMFX $7.60 +0.05 - Global MegaTrends Fund
MEGAX $8.22 +0.08 - All American Equity Fund
GBTFX $24.12 +0.25 - Holmes Growth Fund
ACBGX $18.86 +0.24 - Tax Free Fund
USUTX $12.81 -0.03 - Near-Term Tax Free Fund
NEARX $2.28 No Change - U.S. Government Securities Savings Fund
UGSXX $1.00 No Change - U.S. Treasury Securities Cash Fund
USTXX $1.00 No Change
