Fund Times: Bridgeway Fund Tops the Charts in 2006

Micro-cap funds now claim a number of the top spots in the year-to-date performance tables for U.S. stock funds. Micro-cap funds have held up better than some other areas that had been top performers going into May. (To run the screen for yourself, go to our Fund Quickrank tool and selet U.S. Stock Funds and Total return %: Year-to-date.)

As of June 5, 2006, the U.S. stock fund list is topped by  Bridgeway Ultra-Small Company (BRUSX), which is up an impressive 20.8% for the year to date. Lead manager John Montgomery runs quantitative screens that focus on companies whose market caps fit into the smallest decile of NYSE listings. By closing the fund at a modest size, Montgomery has been able to maintain the fund's strong record.

Also near the top of the list is the tiny  Royce Select II , which has just $1 million in assets and invests in small caps, including micro-caps. The fund is up 18.8% for the year to date and carries a $50,000 minimum investment requirement.

Two super-costly and therefore unattractive funds are also on the leaders' list.  Pacific Advisors Small Cap  charges a steep 3.66% but is up 20% for the year to date. It's worth noting, though, that the fund's 10-year record is on the borderline of the bottom decile in its category. No doubt its huge expense ratio has something to do with that.

Even  Frontier MicroCap , perhaps the worst mutual fund in creation, is participating in the micro-cap rally. The fund is up 16.7% for the year to date, but its 10-year return is an amazing -31% annualized.

Back to respectable funds,  Dreman Contrarian Small Cap Value (DRSVX) has returned a nifty 16.4% in 2006 thanks to an array of cyclical and tech names. The fund invests in small caps, not micro-caps, though. In a little less than three years since it was launched the fund has produced outstanding returns. So far, it has escaped investors' notice and has just $5 million in assets.

Another young fund off to a strong start is  Lord Abbett Value Opportunities (LVOAX), which has also gained 16.4% this year. The fund was launched at the end of 2005.

Lange Has More than a Million in Magellan
New regulatory filings show that manager Harry Lange didn't waste much time investing in  Fidelity Magellan (FMAGX). Lange took the helm at Magellan in October 2005 and had invested more than $1 million of his own assets in the fund as of March 31, 2006.

Magellan has returned 1.75% for the year to date through June 5, 2006. That performance is slightly behind the return of the S&P 500 Index over the same period.

Clock Ticking on New Millennium Succession
We're still waiting for word on who the next manager of  Fidelity New Millennium (FMILX) will be. Fidelity announced that manager Neal Miller will retire at the end of June, so presumably the announcement is coming shortly. Filling Miller's shoes will be a challenge because he invested in a bold, theme-driven strategy that isn't practiced by anyone else at Fidelity.

Phoenix Completes Harris Fund Adoption
 The Phoenix Companies  said it has finished adopting funds run by Harris Investment Management. The funds have been renamed Phoenix Insight Funds. The adoption adds 19 funds with $10.7 billion in assets. Of that sum, $2.4 billion is in equity fund assets, $912 million is in fixed-income fund assets, and $7.3 billion is in money market fund assets.

Russell to Launch Global Indexes
Russell Investment Group said it will launch new global stock indexes in the fourth quarter of 2006. "The new benchmarks will provide investors with comprehensive coverage of each country's market and 98% of the investable global market," the firm said in a press release.