The Prudential Financial Services Class B (MUTF: PUFBX) mutual fund is an IRA fund or 401k investment that buys common stocks of companies in the financial services sector, such as banks, thrifts, mortgage companies, insurance stocks and sundry other financial players. In short, Prudential Financial Services is one of the mutual funds that offers investors a diversified play on the banking sector in all its forms.
Here are the specifics for the mutual funds holdings, and the pros and cons of the Prudential fund:
Investing Strategy: The fund invests in companies in countries throughout the world. However, there is no limit on the amount of assets that must be invested in each country. Some 95% of the fund’s assets are in stocks, with the remainder held in cash.
Expense Ratio: With a 2.14% expense ratio and 5% deferred load, the Prudential Financial Services Class B fund is expensive. But it has a Morningstar rating of five stars.
Top 5 Holdings: The top stocks in the Prudential Financial Services Class B fund include Dryden Core Invest at 4.73%, BNP Paribas (NYSE: BNP) at 4.35%, Julius Baer Gruppe AG (NASDAQ: BAER) at 4.01%, National Bank of Canada (PINK: NTIOF) at 3.71%, and BB&T Corp (NYSE: BBT) at 3.68%.
Returns: The fund’s 12-month return of 24.6% is slightly better than the broader market’s 22% return. However, its 5-year return of 1.8% underperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Averages’ 8% return, but was better than the S&P 500’s near 1% return during the period.
Other Fund Statistics
- Total Assets: $237.5 million
- Minimum Investment: $2,500 (IRA)
- Fund manager: Mark T. Lynch
- Manager’s Tenure: Since January 2009
