| Scorecard |
|---|
|
3 / 5 Stars
|
|
Lipper
1
1
5
1
2
|
|
Zacks Investment Research
3
(Hold)
|
|
Standard & Poor's
3 / 5 Stars
|
|
TheStreet.com
D+
(Sell)
|
#272 in Large Blend
U.S. News evaluated 498 Large Blend Funds. Our list highlights the top-rated funds for long-term investors based on the ratings of leading fund industry researchers.
Performance
The fund has returned 8.47 percent over the past year, 7.53 percent over the past three years, 3.29 percent over the past five years, and 6.67 percent over the past decade.
| Trailing Returns | Updated 04.30.2013 |
|---|---|
| Year to date | 10.8% |
| 1 Year | 8.5% |
| 3 Years (Annualized) | 7.5% |
| 5 Years (Annualized) | 3.3% |
| 10 Years (Annualized) | 6.7% |
Summary
Henssler Equity is a quality-focused, large-cap fund. Management invests in companies that have proven themselves already, rather than those with good prospects or cheap valuations.
As of May 03, 2013, the fund has assets totaling almost $184.99 million invested in 68 different holdings. Its portfolio consists of about 50 stocks and a general sector allocation in line with the S&P 500.
The vast majority of its equity stake is in the U.S. Stocks are on the high side of valuations here. The fund’s average holding is priced at 10 times its cash flow, whereas the S&P 500 average is six times cash flow. Still it hasn’t hurt the fund that noticeably, although the fund did slightly lag peers in 2009 when low-quality stocks had the largest returns following the crash. Parrish sees a rosy picture for the fund ahead. Management believes the S&P 500 will reach 1,495 by the end of the year, which would mean the index would return more than 18 percent this year. Parrish argues that returns will be that high because Wall Street is currently underestimating 2011 profits by about 5 percent. Since the fund invests largely in S&P 500 stocks, that would serve as quite a headwind. The fund has returned 8.47 percent over the past year and 7.53 percent over the past three years.
Since its founding in 1998, the fund has kept its two co-managers, Gene Henssler and Ted Parrish. The two work with a team of analysts to conduct bottom-up stock research, which gives more credence to company quality than market outlook. “We’re stock pickers, and we don’t want to be over-diversified,” says portfolio co-manager Ted Parrish. “We want to get the bang for our buck.” The fund’s portfolio is designed to do that--hold a concentrated number of growth stocks across a diversity of sectors. The fund has returned 3.29 percent over the past five years and 6.67 percent over the past decade.
Investment Strategy
Management constructs a universe of possible investments by requiring high safety and financial strength ratings from Value Line and a high dividend quality rating from Standard & Poor’s. “From there we want liquidity, at least 150K shares traded daily,” Parrish says. Management also looks for earnings growth or earnings growth plus dividend yield of 12 percent or more. Last of all, attractive investments should have PEG ratios of 1 or less, which means that the security has a low valuation to future earnings.
Management
Gene Henssler and Ted Parrish have run the fund since 1998. Henssler is the founder and president of the fund family and is a former college finance professor. Parrish holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. A staff of four analysts assists the two managers.
