Why We Upgraded American Funds Growth Fund of America’s People Rating

American Funds Growth Fund of America’s RGAGX parent company has put more of the strategy’s assets in more experienced hands, earning it a People rating upgrade to High from Above Average, which boosted some of its cheaper share classes’ Morningstar Medalist Ratings to Gold.

Like all American Funds, multiple independent managers divide this portfolio up. Here, those managers come from three different subsidiaries of the fund family’s parent, Capital Group, to help the fund manage its huge $336 billion asset base. In 2025, Capital Group shifted assets from this fund’s newer and undisclosed managers as well as the analyst-run sleeves to more seasoned stock-pickers on the strategy and adjusted some of the existing managers’ roles as part of a subsequent firmwide review.

The fund still has 12 managers with decades of experience at the firm; its longest-tenured manager has been on the job here for more than 24 years, and the roster averages more than 10 years of tenure. Overall, the change puts more of the fund into more proven hands who also serve as leaders of other strategies at the firm.

Those seasoned investors are adept at plying this fund’s flexible approach to growth investing, which mixes traditional growth stocks with fallen angels, cyclical companies, and select non‑US firms that reap a lot of revenue in the United States. The result is a broadly diversified portfolio with individual positions rarely exceeding 6% to 7% of assets, which differs significantly from the concentrated Russell 1000 Growth Index.

Key Morningstar Metrics for American Funds Growth Fund of America

Morningstar Medalist Rating: Gold

Process Pillar: Average

People Pillar: High

Parent Pillar: High

A Durable High-Yield ETF

Franklin High Yield Corporate ETF FLHY received Above Average ratings for both its People and Process Pillars, earning an overall Bronze rating after moving under full analyst coverage this year.

The team follows a straightforward, fundamentals-driven approach to high-yield bond investing with a longer-term horizon of three to five years. They accept short-term volatility, believing their patience gives them an advantage over peers who overreact to periods of credit stress. Lead manager Glenn Voyles runs the portfolio flexibly relative to its benchmark, allowing him to express strong sector views, including meaningful underweightings in areas like retailers in 2025. Recent changes, such as still relatively new quarterly analyst meetings to review the team’s sector and industry views and new portfolio and risk management software, further strengthened this process.

A New Option for Low-Volatility Investing

JP Morgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF HELO earned Above Average People and Process Pillar ratings and a Bronze Medalist Rating as it came under full coverage for the first time.

This strategy seeks to deliver a low-volatility portfolio by layering options on the S&P 500. The fund purchases put options set 5% below the S&P 500’s market value and sells put options 20% below it, effectively protecting investors against S&P 500 losses between 5% and 20% over the options’ three‑month term. To pay for the option strategy, the team sells call options above the S&P 500’s market value, which limits some upside participation in exchange for downside protection. The team also employs a laddered options approach, rolling over a third of its options each month, which reduces its reliance on short-term market movements and helps smooth volatility. This laddered approach will not offer an exact hedge, but the fund should continuously protect against losses in the 5%-20% range.