The table below in this article presents The Skilled Investor’s Fund Authority Score and other information for the American Funds – AMCAP Fund – Class A Shares.
The diversified investment fund strategy of the American Funds – AMCAP Fund – Class A mutual fund shares (AMCPX)
According to its prospectus filing on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission EDGAR system, the investment objective of the American Funds – AMCAP Fund is “to provide you with long-term growth of capital. It invests primarily in stocks of issuers located in the U.S. but may invest in non-U.S. securities to a limited extent.” When this report was prepared, recent data indicated that this actively managed growth mutual fund held 79.0% of its mutual fund assets in U.S. stocks, 3.4% in non-US equities, and 17.6% in cash and cash equivalent investment assets.
Fund Authority Scores for mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) help you sort diversified investment funds quickly.
Fund Authority Scores rate mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the most important economic factors that influence individual investors’ net long term diversified investment fund performance. The Skilled Investor developed the Fund Authority Score system to provide individual investors with concise, objective, and realistic summaries of mutual funds and ETFs for comparisons within investment asset classes.
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I am a recently retired engineer, and I created a cash flow Excel spreadsheet for 25 years of retirement. So, I fully appreciate the data and potential variances that must be accounted for. Yet, mine is so very simple compared to VeriPlan. I love VeriPlan's concept of total control over inputs and parameters. Veriplan's objectives are very much like mine, but it has many, many more input and control options, and the price is spot on." L. G. in Southbridge, VA
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I've been using VeriPlan for a few weeks now, and it is everything I was looking for plus a whole lot more of what I didn't even know I needed. By simply switching VeriPlan to a state that does not have a state income tax, I can see how much I could save on traditional IRA distributions in retirement by moving to a state without income taxes. It is a real education in personal finance, and I think just about everyone would benefit from using this tool." T. H. in Silicon Valley CA
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For a directory of the Fund Authority Score reports of other mutual funds and ETFs, go here. When you go to this Fund Authority Score directory, you can easily find a list of all fund reports at the bottom of each article for that particular investment asset class. For more information about how a Fund Authority Score is developed for each mutual fund or ETF, go here.
The Fund Authority Score for the American Funds – AMCAP Fund – Class A Shares (AMCPX)
Using an integer scale ranging from -10 to +10, Fund Authority Scores for equity investment funds measure five factors:
1) annualized management and investment sales expenses (40% weighting),
2) annual trading costs implied by investment fund portfolio turnover (30% weighting),
3) inferior and superior historical performance (20% weighting),
4) minimum fund maturity (5% weighting), and
5) minimum fund size for operating efficiency (5% weighting).
Fund Authority Scores zero in on the most effective strategy that you have to increase your long-term mutual fund and ETF investment returns, which is to cut investment costs to rock bottom. With such a smart, low cost investment strategy, you just have to be a better bargain shopper, when you buy your investments, and then hold on to them.
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I am 10 years out from retirement, and I needed to start thinking more seriously about having enough to retire on. I'm following the suggestions of you and others in opting for more hands-on retirement planning. I am also using lower cost index investing. There are too many wealth management companies out there, all ready to charge an arm and leg for what should be straightforward financial planning work." G. B. in Smith Mountain Lake, VA
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Over a 30-year retirement investment accumulation period, a $10,000 investment — reduced by a 5.75% initial sales load charge to pay a financial advisor — could grow to $40,734. This result assumes that your investment earns a 5% annual real dollar return after inflation and investment costs, and it ignores any capital gains taxes.
In contrast, if you instead buy no load mutual funds directly, you can cut out the initial sales load charge entirely. You can put ALL of your investment capital to work for you from the outset. And, if you pay annual investment fees that are just one percentage point lower, you could end up with $16,701 more! Your $10,000 initial investment would be worth 41% MORE after 30 years, when compared to the $40,734 retirement portfolio that you get with higher cost funds with sales loads! To learn more, read: “Excessive investment costs are a huge problem for individual investors.â€
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I am a recently retired engineer, and I created a cash flow Excel spreadsheet for 25 years of retirement. So, I fully appreciate the data and potential variances that must be accounted for. Yet, mine is so very simple compared to VeriPlan. I love VeriPlan's concept of total control over inputs and parameters. Veriplan's objectives are very much like mine, but it has many, many more input and control options, and the price is spot on." L. G. in Southbridge, VA
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "Thanks for developing a great product. I have looked at Money Tree, Money Guide Pro, and some other FP software, and I have used Right Capital (a good product also, but still $100 per month). Yours is just as robust for a much more affordable price. I also extensively use Quicken for my finances, but the planning tool in it is kind of basic, so VeriPlan will complement Quicken very well." E. Z. in San Mateo, CA
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "Previously I used some consumer retirement planners like New Retirement. What they offer is a projection of your financial situation that is wildly generalized. A generalized projection is probably better than having no projection at all and could very well be used for rough, long-term planning. However, for fine grained planning, such a system is wholly inadequate. VeriPlan is vastly superior in comprehensiveness and flexibility." T. D. in Edison, NJ
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I've been using VeriPlan for a few weeks now, and it is everything I was looking for plus a whole lot more of what I didn't even know I needed. By simply switching VeriPlan to a state that does not have a state income tax, I can see how much I could save on traditional IRA distributions in retirement by moving to a state without income taxes. It is a real education in personal finance, and I think just about everyone would benefit from using this tool. I am going to tell everyone I know about VeriPlan. Thank you very much for creating it. Your web sites are great, too." T. H. in Silicon Valley CA
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A customer comment from the sidebar: "I thought I would let you know that VeriPlan was the primary decision support tool in my decision to retire early, which was about 4 years ago now. And it has worked out really well. Since then I got married, and we have traveled to 10 countries -- some on mission trips. I had used the lifetime planners in Microsoft Money and Quicken but they were not robust enough to make a major decision with. In retrospect they are toys compared to VeriPlan. So VeriPlan has been a very big help to me. Also, I recently read your Lowest Cost Mutual Funds book, which was great. It brought a few things to my attention that I need to work on." Email update from T. H. in Silicon Valley
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NOTES:
— Most mutual funds and ETFs change their fees and trading strategies relatively little over time. Because investment expenses, trading/turnover costs, fund maturity, and operating efficiency account for 80% of the Fund Authority Score rating system, Fund Authority Scores tend to remain relatively stable over time for such consistent investment funds.
— The date in the table above indicates when fund information was accessed from SEC EDGAR filings and/or the fund company website. Normally, data used to develop Fund Authority Scores rely upon reporting periods ending the previous calendar quarter or half year.
— It is sad to have to say this, however, with ethical standards on the web being a bit low … unless otherwise stated, there are no business arrangements of any kind between The Skilled Investor and any financial product, service, or company that may be discussed in our publication’s articles. To avoid conflicts of interest, The Skilled Investor does NOT accept any compensation – in cash or in kind – that would affect our editorial content.
— Fund Authority Scores are developed on a fund by fund basis. Just because a mutual fund or ETF has a high Fund Authority Score does not mean that other funds from that fund family do, as well. On your own, always be careful to check current management expenses, sales loads, portfolio turnover, fund maturity, fund size, fund performance, and other current factors before investing in any diversified investment fund.
— If you do not need and/or are unwilling to pay the direct and indirect costs of an investment counselor, stock broker, or other financial advisory intermediary, you should note that many mutual funds can be purchased directly from diversified investment fund families by accessing their websites or by calling their customer service telephone numbers. Similarly many ETFs can be purchased with lower transactions fees through discount brokers. (See these articles: Payment of Investment Advisors, Financial Planners, and Investment Counselors)
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