Patricia Oey

These funds provide exposure to many timely investment themes, including sustainability, the U.S. infrastructure spending bill, and inflation protection.

Here are some highlights from August.

Three managers to keep an eye on.

A closer look at some recent initiatives.

A volatile end to 2018 resulted in an overly conservative positioning going into 2019.

Gold-rated Vanguard Tax-Managed Balanced Fund boasts low fees, seasoned manager, and tax efficiency.

PIMCO StocksPLUS Small takes an unusual approach.

The long-tenured manager of this Gold-rated fund's bond sleeve is retiring in June. Should investors be concerned?

We've downgraded Berwyn Income's Morningstar Analyst Rating to Neutral as new managers with no public record running multi-asset strategies take the helm.

Bronze-rated Berwyn Income practices a flexible value-oriented conservative-allocation strategy.

Silver-rated Gateway has successfully employed an options strategy that has generated long-term steady performance.

Gold-rated Vanguard Tax-Managed Balanced is an attractive option for the cost- and tax-conscious investor.

Bronze-rated PIMCO StocksPlus Absolute Return taps into the firm's bond-investing resources and derivatives-trading capabilities in an effort to generate S&P 500-beating results.

Both Bronze-rated and reasonably priced, Merger Fund and Arbitrage Fund have relatively long track records and experienced managers.

We give an in-depth look at our annual fund fee study.

Bronze-rated Schwab Hedged Equity has been a top-quartile risk-adjusted performer, but it hasn't yet faced a sustained downturn.

StocksPLUS and StocksPLUS Absolute Return provide exposure to the S&P 500 while also seeking to outperform the index by investing in bonds.

These all-weather funds can provide diversification benefits in a market downturn.

The equity rally has been tough on these funds, and investors should understand the processes when selecting a long-short strategy.

Bucking the trend observed in other asset classes.

Our analysts share three of their top emerging-markets stock funds on the heels of a strong year for the category.

After a couple of rough years, 2017 is looking a little better for liquid alternatives.

Dreyfus Dynamic Total Return has competitive returns, a long track record, and below-average fees.

Silver-rated Oppenheimer Global fishes globally for growth ideas.

Bronze-rated Eaton Vance Diversified Currency tilts toward emerging markets, is diversified, and has relatively low fees.

Investors have been voting with their feet for low-cost funds, bringing down average fees again in 2016.

Despite AQR Market Neutral's short track record, investors should keep it on their radars.

WisdomTree's Jeremy Schwartz discusses emerging markets' performance drivers, valuations, and risks.

There are broader, cheaper options than this 2000-era world-stock ETF.

MSCI will answer this question with its June 14 announcement regarding changes to its indexes.

But investors are not necessarily paying less.

A more tempered ride, in both downturns and in upturns.

Average fees paid by ETF investors have fallen over the last decade as low-cost options gain popularity and large flows create economies of scale.

These 'driver-less' funds may be going places you might not want to be.

Stay put, but make sure your fund does not have an outsized China exposure.

This Vanguard index fund can be used as a portfolio starter for a young investor.

But like all allocation decisions, it's best to stick to your plan.

These ETFs screen for companies with higher returns on equity and independent directors.

The risks of frontier markets become more visible in a persistent slow global growth environment.

First Trust Dorsey Wright International Focus 5's momentum strategy has worked so far, but investors could be in for a bumpy ride.

Just don't use them for short-term, market-timing bets.

Index funds are likely to add China A-Shares in the coming years.

Vanguard uses this fund in its target-date and LifeStrategy funds.

Investor rebalancing is a contributor.

The fund company's emerging-markets index fund and ETF will eventually have a hefty China allocation.

Focusing on high-quality companies and diversifying across countries can dampen the often-misunderstood risk of frontier-markets investing, says Wasatch's Laura Geritz.

China typically accounts for about a 1% allocation in a 60/40 stock/bond portfolio.

The impact of currency movements on equity allocations has been negligible over the long term, so investors holding unhedged Medalist funds should stay the course.

Although this low-volatility global equity ETF holds U.S. stocks, it has offered more diversification from the S&P 500 than the average world-stock fund.

Vanguard Emerging Markets is adding China A-shares, and MSCI says it soon will, too.