Returns lift Waddell & Reed, Ivy funds in Barron’s ranking
of the best mutual fund families for 2013.
Ranked No. 5 among 64 fund groups, the Waddell Reed Funds showed their “strongest result” in mixed funds that hold stocks and bonds, the financial publication said in its Feb 10 issue. Only fund families with a broad mix of fund offerings — U.S. stocks, world stocks, taxable bonds, tax-exempt bonds and mixed — were eligible.
Waddell Reed Financial also runs Ivy Funds, and they topped Barron’s ranking based on 10-year returns and were fifth in the five-year ranking. The Waddell Reed family was No. 4. in the 10-year list and No. 9 in the five-year rankings.
Hank Herrmann, chief executive officer of Waddell Reed, said last year’s strong stock market made the work seem easier than it was. Top performance relied on smart stock picks.
“We have some 80 people focused on bottoms-up research, and that paid off,” Herrmann told Barron’s.
In the 2013 rankings, the Waddell Funds finished in the top 20 in each of the five categories. They ranked No. 3 in mixed funds and No. 8 in tax-exempt bond funds.
The Ivy Fund family, which ranked 11th in the 2013 listing, was fourth in mixed funds and fifth in taxable bond funds.
This story was originally published February 10, 2014 at 10:47 AM with the headline "Returns lift Waddell & Reed, Ivy funds in Barron’s ranking."