3Q18 Sector Ratings for ETFs & Mutual Funds

Written By: David Trainer At the beginning of the third quarter of 2018, only the Consumer Non-cyclicals, Technology, and Telecom Services sectors earn an Attractive-or-better rating. Our sector ratings are based on the normalized aggregation of our stock ratings for every stock in each sector. Our stock ratings are based on five criteria that assess a firm’s business strength and valuation . See last quarter’s Sector Ratings here .Investors looking for sector funds that hold quality stocks should look no further than the Consumer Non-cyclicals and Technology sectors. These sectors house the highest rated funds. Figures 4 through 7 provide more details. The primary driver behind an Attractive fund rating is good portfolio management , or good stock picking, with low total annual costs .Attractive-or-better ratings do not always correlate with Attractive-or-better total annual costs. This fact underscores that (1) cheap funds can dupe investors and (2) investors should invest only in funds with good stocks and low fees.Our Robo-Analyst technology [1] empowers our unique ETF and mutual fund rating methodology , which leverages our rigorous analysis of each fund’s holdings.[2]

Figure 1: Ratings for All Sectors

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsTo earn an Attractive-or-better Predictive Rating, an ETF or mutual fund must have high-quality holdings and low costs. Only the top 30% of all ETFs and mutual funds earn our Attractive or better ratings.Fidelity MSCI Consumer Staples Index (FSTA) is the top-rated Consumer Non-cyclicals fund. It gets our Very Attractive rating by allocating over 69% of its value to Attractive-or-better-rated stocks.BP Capital TwinLine Energy Fund (BPEAX) is the worst Energy fund. It gets our Very Unattractive rating by allocating over 52% of its value to Unattractive-or-worse-rated stocks. Making matters worse, it charges investors annual costs of 4.53%.Figure 2 shows the distribution of our Predictive Ratings for all sector ETFs and mutual funds.

Figure 2: Distribution of ETFs & Mutual Funds (Assets and Count) by Predictive Rating

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 3 offers additional details on the quality of the sector funds. Note that the average total annual cost of Very Unattractive funds is over one and a half times that of Very Attractive funds.

Figure 3: Predictive Rating Distribution Stats

* Avg TAC = Weighted Average Total Annual CostsSource: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsThis table shows that only the best of the best funds get our Very Attractive Rating: they must hold good stocks AND have low costs. Investors deserve to have the best of both and we are here to give it to them.

Ratings by Sector

Figure 4 presents a mapping of Very Attractive funds by sector. The chart shows the number of Very Attractive funds in each sector and the percentage of assets in each sector allocated Very Attractive-rated funds.

Figure 4: Very Attractive ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 5 presents the data charted in Figure 4.

Figure 5: Very Attractive ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 6 presents a mapping of Attractive funds by sector. The chart shows the number of Attractive funds in each sector and the percentage of assets in each sector allocated to Attractive-rated funds.

Figure 6: Attractive ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 7 presents the data charted in Figure 6.

Figure 7: Attractive ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 8 presents a mapping of Neutral funds by sector. The chart shows the number of Neutral funds in each sector and the percentage of assets in each sector allocated to Neutral-rated funds.Related: Four Undervalued Small Cap Stocks For Value Investors

Figure 8: Neutral ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 9 presents the data charted in Figure 8.

Figure 9: Neutral ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 10 presents a mapping of Unattractive funds by sector. The chart shows the number of Unattractive funds in each sector and the percentage of assets in each sector allocated to Unattractive-rated funds.The landscape of sector ETFs and mutual funds is littered with Unattractive funds. Investors in Basic Materials have put over 90% of their assets in Unattractive-rated funds.

Figure 10: Unattractive ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 11 presents the data charted in Figure 10.

Figure 11: Unattractive ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 12 presents a mapping of Very Unattractive funds by sector. The chart shows the number of Very Unattractive funds in each sector and the percentage of assets in each sector allocated to Very Unattractive-rated funds.

Figure 12: Very Unattractive ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filingsFigure 13 presents the data charted in Figure 12.

Figure 13: Very Unattractive ETFs & Mutual Funds by Sector

Source: New Constructs, LLC and company filings