This World Stock Fund Is on Our Radar

Greg Carlson: A fund on our radar right now is Artisan Global Discovery. This is a world stock fund that invests in small- and mid-cap stocks. There aren't many funds with this type of mandate, but this fund is run by a proven team with a long history of performing well with small and mid-cap stocks in general and more recently with global funds. They run Artisan Global Opportunities, Artisan Mid Cap Stock, and Artisan Small Cap. These funds all earn Silver Morningstar Analyst Ratings.

The managers tend to focus on companies with strong balance sheets and solid management, but they are willing to pay up for companies with strong growth in particular. However, they have done a good job of managing downside risk and valuation risk over the long term. They first started running Artisan Mid Cap in 1997, and that one has an excellent long-term record. The other funds have a shorter history under their current management team.

The fees here are pretty high right now, but the fund is new and quite small; it just launched last year. Artisan funds don't tend to get cheap. However, this fund's expense ratio should come closer to the category average over the long term, and we expect solid risk-adjusted returns over the long haul.