The top three sectors in this five-star-rated fund are technology (18.92% of assets); financial services (14.66%) and healthcare (13.53%).
Mairs & Power Growth (MPGFX)
From Bob Carlson’s Retirement Watch
We invest in U.S. stocks primarily through Mairs & Power Growth (MPGFX). The fund’s been around since 1958 with an essentially unchanged investment process and is among the top-ranked funds over most periods. It also beats the S&P 500 over most periods. The fund’s down 3.49% for the last four weeks but is up 7.55% for 2016.
MPGFX has some unique features. Since it is based in St. Paul, Minnesota, the fund’s managers believe they gain an advantage by investing primarily in companies that also are based in the Midwest. Closer proximity allows the fund to understand the companies more thoroughly than firms based on the coasts. It can invest in any size company, and most of its holdings are mid-size or small companies.
The fund focuses on a relatively small number of stocks. MPGFX recently held 52 stocks and had 37.5% of its assets in its 10 largest positions. The top holdings are Ecolab, US Bancorp, St. Jude Medical, 3M, and Honeywell.
Bob C. Carlson, Bob Carlson’s Retirement Watch, www.retirementwatch.com, December 2016