Morningstar Rating

Fund Research and Analysis

by Arijit Dutta
American Funds EuroPacific Growth retains its advantage.

It may be of little consolation, but this fund's staggering 40% loss in 2008 was in fact among the best results in the foreign large-blend category. While the shadow of last year's terrible bear market still looms large, the fund has enjoyed its share of the sharp rally in recent months, which has allowed it to post a healthy 13% gain for the year through June 29, 2009.  Read more 

Kudos

Consistently strong performance.
Solid tax efficiency.
Buy-and-hold discipline. Read more 

Risks

Above-average emerging-markets exposure.
Some sector concentration. Read more 

Strategy

The fund divides assets among several portfolio counselors (managers) whose investment philosophies vary from growth-focused to value-oriented. In the aggregate, the fund's portfolio is well diversified across countries and sectors, and its price multiples usually stay close to the category norms.  Read more 

Management

Like all American Funds, this offering boasts many experienced managers, most of whom have been with the company for more than a decade. Each manager runs his or her portion of assets independently of the others. A portion of the portfolio (less than 25% of assets) is run by the firm's analyst staff.  Read more 

Inside Scoop

Multiple portfolio counselors run separate sleeves, which leads to a diffuse portfolio of 250-odd stocks here. It's one of the biggest funds out there, but the broad developed- and emerging-markets mandate means potential opportunities are plentiful.  Read more 

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