T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth has a terrific long-term record. Brian Berghuis, manager since the fund's 1992 inception, uses a cautious approach to investing in growth stocks. He seeks out medium-size companies with strong growth potential whose shares are selling at reasonable prices. The fund's annualized return of 14% over the past decade is four percentage points per year better than the average return of funds that invest in fast-growing, midsize companies.
The problem is, Mid-Cap Growth (symbol RPMGX; 800-662-2465) hasn't been accepting new accounts since December 2003. But now investors can use a side door to gain entry. Construction equipment maker Caterpillar announced earlier this month that it's unloading its mutual-fund operation, the Preferred Group of Mutual Funds. Baltimore's T. Rowe Price is buying, and plans to merge Preferred's ten funds with their own. This includes Preferred Mid Cap Growth (symbol PFMGX; 800-662-2465), which will merge into T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth.
You can hop into the Preferred fund until May 31 and ride it into Price Mid-Cap Growth when the merger is consummated around June 19. Neither fund levies a sales charge.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Turner Investment Partners' Christopher McHugh currently skippers Preferred Mid Cap, which has assets of $119 million. (Preferred Group uses sub advisers on all its funds.) Over the past three years to February 1, both the Price fund and the Preferred fund returned an annualized 26%, three percentage points per year ahead of the average of their peers.
T. Rowe Price Mid Cap, with $15 billion in assets, is best suited for the part of a conservative investor's portfolio that is devoted to shares of medium-size companies (in this case, those with market values of $1 billion to $10 billion). Its annual expense ratio is a well-below average 0.83%.
-
What Is a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)?Tax Breaks A QCD can lower your tax bill while meeting your charitable giving goals in retirement. Here’s how.
-
Embracing Generative AI for Financial SuccessGenerative AI has the potential to reshape how we approach learning about and managing our personal finances.
-
Best Banks for High-Net-Worth Clients 2024wealth management These banks welcome customers who keep high balances in deposit and investment accounts, showering them with fee breaks and access to financial-planning services.
-
Stock Market Holidays in 2024 and 2025: NYSE, NASDAQ and Wall Street HolidaysMarkets When are the stock market holidays? Here, we look at which days the NYSE, Nasdaq and bond markets are off in 2024 and 2025.
-
Stock Market Trading Hours: What Time Is the Stock Market Open Today?Markets When does the market open? While the stock market does have regular hours, trading doesn't necessarily stop when the major exchanges close.
-
Bogleheads Stay the CourseBears and market volatility don’t scare these die-hard Vanguard investors.
-
The Current I-Bond Rate Until May Is Mildly Attractive. Here's Why.Investing for Income The current I-bond rate is active until November 2024 and presents an attractive value, if not as attractive as in the recent past.
-
What Are I-Bonds? Inflation Made Them Popular. What Now?savings bonds Inflation has made Series I savings bonds, known as I-bonds, enormously popular with risk-averse investors. So how do they work?
-
This New Sustainable ETF’s Pitch? Give Back Profits.investing Newday’s ETF partners with UNICEF and other groups.
-
As the Market Falls, New Retirees Need a Planretirement If you’re in the early stages of your retirement, you’re likely in a rough spot watching your portfolio shrink. We have some strategies to make the best of things.
