In our Best of Funds Family series, we are focusing today on funds from Allianz Global Investors, ranked among the top five asset management companies in the world, with more than $1.4 trillion under management for its clients worldwide. We are spotlighting three types of funds here; an aggressive growth equity fund, a balanced asset allocation fund and a Pacific-region focused equities fund.
Allianz OCC Opportunity A (POPAX) seeks long-term capital appreciation. It was incepted in February 1984.
The fund’s investment process focuses on bottom-up, fundamental analysis. It invests at least 65% of its assets in equity of companies which it believes has significant growth potential with market capitalizations of less than $2 billion. The fund looks to invest in companies with strong earnings growth, with a particular focus on those firms that may deliver surprisingly strong growth. It uses both quantitative and qualitative analysis to identify potential companies for investment.
The fund has an expense ratio of 1.31% compared to a category average of 1.61%. As of June 2009, it has a portfolio turnover of 199% against a category average of 133%.
Michael Corelli has been lead manager of the fund since March 2003. Prior to joining Oppenheimer Capital, an independent unit of Allianz Global Investors Corelli was portfolio manager at PEA Capital, LLC, an affiliate of Oppenheimer Capital.
Allianz Global Core Allocation A (PALAX) was incepted in September 1998. The fund seeks both growth of capital and current income
The fund invests its assets in Underlying Stock Funds and Underlying Bond Funds, allocating 60% to the former and 40% to the latter. It may invest all its assets in underlying funds, in specified equity and fixed income ranges among the underlying fund and in any or all of the funds.
The fund declares dividends quarterly and capital gains annually. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% against a category average of 1.01%.
Paul Pietranico has been lead manager of the fund since May 2009. Pietranico is a Charted Financial Analyst and is director of the due diligence, risk analysis and performance reporting teams at Allianz Global Investors.
Allianz NACM Pacific Rim A (PPRAX) seeks long-term growth of capital. It was incepted in December 1997.
The fund seeks to grow its investors’ capital by investing at least 80% of its assets in companies that have strong economic linkages to countries located on the Pacific Rim. It selects securities of those issuers which are based in at least three Pacific Rim countries.
The fund has an expense ratio of 1.78% compared to a category average of 1.59%. As of June 2009 it has a portfolio turnover of 53% against a category average of 85%.
Pedro V. Marcal has been lead manager of the fund since November 2007. Before joining Allianz in 1994, Marcal was an economist at A. B. Laffer, V. A. Canto & Associates, a global economic consulting firm.
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