The top 100 funds in Pensions & Investments' semiannual ranking of equity mutual funds most popular among defined contribution plans had $75.25 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, while the 100 most popular fixed-income funds had $25.86 billion.
The mutual fund rankings are based on a P&I survey that asked mutual fund vendors to list their five equity and five fixed-income mutual funds with the most defined contribution assets, excluding individual retirement accounts and Keogh plans. Money market, GIC, balanced, tactical asset allocation and lifecycle funds, which combine different asset classes within a single mutual fund, were excluded from the Dec. 31 survey.
The totals represent a growth of 30.4% for the equity funds and a loss of 12% for the fixed-income funds. The top 100 equity mutual funds had $57.7 billion in assets as of June 30, 1993; the top 100 fixed-income mutual funds held $26.2 billion. The drop in fixed income could be attributed to a change in the way the mutual funds were listed; GIC funds included in the June 30 survey were dropped from the Dec. 31 survey.
Based on the vendors' answers, rankings were generated in both fixed-income and equity categories. For the first time, the survey included vendors other than mutual fund companies, such as banks and insurance companies.
Growth funds dominated the top 10 equity rankings again, and Fidelity Investments, Boston, and Vanguard Group, Valley Forge, Pa., again led the rankings with five and three funds in the top 10 respectively.
Aetna's Variable Fund appeared in fourth place, with $3.39 billion in assets.
The Janus Fund managed by Janus Capital Group, Denver, dropped from ninth to 10th place despite an 18% increase in assets to $1.45 billion from $1.225 billion.
Fidelity's five funds in the top 10 increased their assets 21% to $21.898 billion from $18.063 billion. But despite the increase, Aetna's entry into the top 10 bumped all but Fidelity's Magellan Fund down a place.
Magellan topped the rankings for the third time in a row, increasing its assets 23% to $12.316 billion from $10.001 billion since June 30, 1992.
Fidelity's Equity Income fund dropped to fifth from fourth, with assets of $3.323 billion; its Growth & Income fund stayed in sixth with $2.523 billion; and the Puritan fund dropped to seventh from fifth, with $2.247 billion in assets. The Equity Index fund dropped to ninth from seventh, with $1.489 billion.
Vanguard's three funds in the top 10 increased 20% to $10.521 billion from $8.751 billion. The Vanguard Index 500 Trust and Windsor I funds switched second and third places, with respective assets $4.462 billion and $4.433 billion; the Windsor II remained at seventh place with $1.626 billion.
The popularity of the top 10 funds did not translate into higher returns, however.
According to information from Micropal Inc., Boston, the funds with the best performance for the five-year period ending Dec. 31, 1993 only included one of the top ten funds. The Janus Fund was ninth, with a five-year return of 19.69%; Fidelity Magellan was 12th, with a five-year return of 19.29%.
Among fixed-income funds, Fidelity and Federated Management, Pittsburgh, led the top 10 rankings, along with General Electric Investment Management, Stamford, Conn.
The GE S&S Long Term Interest and Short Term Interest funds were first and fourth, with $3.17 billion and $863 million in assets, respectively. Fidelity's Intermediate Bond Fund stayed in second place with $1.043 billion.
Total assets in the three Federated funds in the top 10 dropped 2.5% to $1.873 billion from $1.921 billion. The GNMA Trust kept its hold on fourth place at $732 million; Income Trust went to seventh from sixth, with $604 million; and the ARM fund went to eighth from seventh at $537 million.
Vanguard's Fixed Income Short Term Corporate Portfolio rose to sixth from ninth, with a 30% increase in assets to $688.9 million. The Putnam U.S. Government Income Fund, managed by Putnam Management Co. Inc., Boston, stayed at No. 5 at $728 million. Aetna Income Shares was ninth with assets of $531 million.
