Investing December 28, 2004

US Stock Funds Rise 11.4% in 2004

December 28, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - US stock mutual funds brought investors solid returns in 2004, but the pace was off from last year's totals.
Reported by

Lipper Inc., a fund research firm owned by Reuters, said that preliminary data as of December 23 shows that diversified stock funds were up 11.4% in 2004, while the average world stock fund rose 16.1%.These numbers are down slightly from last year, according to Reuters, when diversified stock funds were up 32%, and the average world fund rose a whopping 40%.

In 2004 however, the numbers were still positive, especially in the international arena. Emerging markets funds rose 21.2% on the year, while Latin American funds rose a substantial 35.7%. Europe performed well, with funds up 20.7%, and Pacific region funds were up 12.9%. Japanese funds saw lesser gains at 8.6%, and nearby China funds rose 8%.   Foreign stocks benefited substantially in 2004 from the devaluation of the dollar, according to Reuters.

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Reuters also reported that the net sales of stock funds, as well as funds comprised of both stocks and bonds, was $24.4 billion in November, the largest since the first two months of the year (See Money Market, World Equity Funds Strong Draw in November ).

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