A Closed-Fund Watchlist

It happens to every mutual fund investor. You screen for a fund to fit a given slot in your portfolio--say, a sturdy core international fund or a worthy small-cap option. You make sure its manager is still on board, its expenses are reasonable, and that it gets the thumbs-up from Morningstar's analysts. You think you've found your future holding, only to discover that--d'oh!--it's closed to new investors.

If you're in search of a new holding, finding out that a fund is closed is a minor nuisance--you just move on to your runner-up and don't spend too much time thinking about the one that got away.

Yet, just as equity investors frequently compile watchlists of individual stocks they'd like to buy at the right price, avid fund investors might consider keeping a running list of worthwhile closed funds that may reopen at a later date. After all, funds' closing policies are frequently fluid and depend on a confluence of factors, especially the manager's view of his or her investment universe and whether investors are buying or selling shares of the fund. Funds frequently close when the manager can't find enough opportunities to put investors' checks to work. Likewise, they tend to reopen when the opposite is true: when the manager is spotting plenty of opportunities yet investors are yanking more dollars than they're putting in. While a fund reopening isn't always a good contrarian indicator, it's usually better to add to an offering when it's reopening its doors than to rush in before the closing. You may have to hold your nose and buy, because investor redemptions and fund reopenings often follow on the heels of poor performance for an asset class or weak relative returns. But you may be glad you did.

To help surface a watchlist of worthwhile funds that are currently closed to new investors but may open at some point in the future, I used

to search for closed funds that earn Morningstar Analyst Ratings of Gold. Our analyst team includes closed funds among its medalists so that investors who own them know that these funds are on their high-conviction list and are worthy of additional purchases. Closed funds often remain on 401(k) menus, too, even after they've closed to the general public.

Premium Members can click

to view the list of funds that made the cut or to tweak the screen to their own specifications. (My screen includes some funds that carry sales charges, but DIY investors will probably want to exclude them.) Here's a closer look at three funds that made the cut.

While a closing can be a signal that a fund's performance is due for a cool-down, Artisan International Value's performance history rips that theory to shreds. After closing to new investors for the second time in early 2011, the fund went on to post top-decile gains in every calendar year from 2011-14. Managers Dan O'Keefe and David Samra look for high-quality companies that are trading at a discount to what they think they're worth, and they haven't hesitated to shut the doors to new investors when opportunities are scant. Prospective shareholders on the outside looking in shouldn't hold their breath for a reopening. Despite substantial global market volatility this past summer, the managers had a higher position in cash at the end of August than they had the year prior. Nonetheless, the fund has been prone to streaky performance in the past; if it hits a rough patch, prospective investors may get their opening.

Like the Artisan fund, Sequoia isn't likely to be in the market for new investors soon; its performance has been red-hot recently, lifting it into the large-growth group's top echelons over every trailing period, both near and distant. That strong performance owes to its resurgent stake in

Four separate Primecap-managed funds, including three under the Vanguard umbrella, showed up in our screen for high-conviction funds that are closed to new investors. Morningstar's analyst team has long viewed Primecap as one of its favorite growth managers, owing to the firm's sensible "contrarian-growth" strategy, seasoned management team, and track record of good stewardship. Unlike the Artisan and Sequoia funds, prospective investors attracted to the Primecap approach still have some options, as both