共同之處

????今年伊始，前景一片大好。隨著對2011年經濟強勢復蘇的樂觀情緒高漲，1月份美國股票基金的資金流入額達到了160億美元，創下繼2006年那些好日子以來單月資金流入額的新高。此外，應稅債券基金的資金流入額也達到了110億美元。但到了夏季，復蘇預期已被歐元區可能崩潰的擔憂所取代。很快，經濟可能再度下滑的擔憂引發了市場動蕩。對于大多數共同基金經理或基金投資者而言，沒一個好消息。基金分析公司理柏（Lipper）的數據顯示，截至10月份美國多元化股票基金平均下跌2%，而同期標準普爾500指數上漲了1.3%。固定收益基金的平均回報率也比巴克萊資本（Barclays Capital）美國綜合債券指數（U.S. Aggregate Bond Index）落后了4個百分點。

????在這樣的背景下，能夠交出漂亮成績單的基金自然顯得更加鶴立雞群。因此，我們決定將表現最突出的幾支基金命名為《財富》雜志2011年共同基金全明星團隊（Fortune's 2011 Mutual Fund All-Star Team）。當然，我們不想將一時的好運誤以為真正的投資技巧。我們根據晨星公司（Morningstar）的數據先篩選出截至11月初今年表現最好的基金，再從中挑出過去五年回報率都在同業組中排名前20%的基金。最后，我們從晨星的不同分類中選出了5支基金。【多數收取常規費用，但有兩家，富國銀行（Wells Fargo）和Epoch的基金還收取傭金。】這5支基金的投資方式形式多樣，但有一點是共同的：他們在2011年都證明了即便是在嚴峻的市場環境下，最優秀的基金經理也能為投資者實現收益。

富國銀行優勢成長基金

????基金經理：約瑟夫?艾伯哈迪、托馬斯?奧格納和布魯斯?奧爾森

????交易代碼：SGROX

????資產規模：70億美元

????美國大型股平均回報率：0.25%

????今年迄今回報率：13.2%

????目前看好的投資：美國全食超市公司

????奧格納看好這家高端有機天然食品零售商的增長潛力：他認為這家公司十年內能將美國門店數量從目前的300家增至900或1,000家。

????湯姆?奧格納不太關注外在，至少對辦公室是這樣。他的基金設在密爾沃基寂靜郊區的一間不起眼的辦公室里。“我們的房地產成本可能是業內最低的，”他開玩笑地說。奧格納真正著迷的是尋找被投資者低估的高成長公司。在他們的辦公室里，41歲的奧格納和另外兩名聯席經理每天都在篩選和討論股票。今年他們選中的一支好股是鐵路運營商Kansas City Southern，由于盈利增長強勁，截至11月份該股今年漲幅已經高達42%。蘋果公司（Apple）作為這家基金的第一重倉股，也是今年增長的有力推動者。最近一個季度，蘋果公司凈利潤增長54%。奧格納認為，2012年iPhone銷量將增長20%-25%。他簡直不能相信這支股票當前股價僅為明年預期凈利潤的10倍。“股價幾乎沒有反映任何銷售增長預期，”奧格納說。

One thing in common

??? The year started with so much promise. As optimism grew about a strong economic recovery in 2011, January turned into a record-setting month for the fund industry. Investors poured $16 billion into U.S. stock funds -- the biggest monthly haul since the heady days of 2006. They added another $11 billion to taxable bond funds. But by summer the recovery talk had been replaced by fears of a eurozone collapse. Pretty soon the specter of another economic downturn was causing turbulence. None of this was good news for most mutual fund managers or their investors. The average diversified U.S. stock fund fell 2% through October, according to Lipper, compared with a 1.3% rise in the S&P 500. And the average fixed-income fund trailed the Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index by four percentage points.

??? Against that backdrop, funds which did manage to produce stellar results stand out all the more. Which is why we decided to recognize top performers by naming them to Fortune's 2011 Mutual Fund All-Star Team. What we didn't want to do was mistake a hot streak for real investing skill. So after we screened for the year's top funds through early November, we again screened to make sure each fund's past returns ranked among the top 20% of peers over a five-year period, according to Morningstar. In the end, we selected five funds from different Morningstar categories. (Most charge average fees, but two, the Wells Fargo and Epoch funds, also carry a load.) The group has a wide range of approaches but one thing in common: Its members proved in 2011 that the best fund managers can earn gains for investors even in a punishing market.

Wells Fargo Advantage Growth Fund

????Managers: Joseph Eberhardy, Thomas Ognar, and Bruce Olson

????Ticker: SGROX

????Assets: $7 billion

????U.S. large growth average: 0.25%

????Year-to-date return: 13.2%

????What they like now: Whole Foods

????Ognar loves the upscale grocer's growth potential: He thinks it could expand from 300 stores in the U.S. now to 900 or 1,000 in a decade.

????Tom Ognar doesn't care much about appearances, at least when it comes to office space. He runs his fund out of a modest space in a sleepy suburb of Milwaukee. "Our real estate cost is probably the lowest in the industry," he jokes. What he's obsessed with is finding high-growth companies that investors are underestimating. From their cubicles, Ognar, 41, and his two co-managers spend their days running screens and debating stocks. One winner they picked this year was railroad operator Kansas City Southern, which leaped 42% through November on strong earnings growth. Apple is the fund's largest holding and was a big driver of this year's gains. The tech giant boosted earnings 54% in the latest quarter. Ognar thinks iPhone sales will grow 20% to 25% in 2012. He can't believe the stock is selling for just 10 times next year's projected earnings. "That's pricing in almost no growth," says Ognar.