Shifting Fortunes

remembers. “I encourage clients to invest for the long term and these are funds you can hold on to your whole life.”

RISING TO THE OCCASION
Among fixed-income funds, Davis favors PIMCO Total Return (PTTAX) and American Funds Bond Fund of America, mentioned above. “These funds hold intermediate-term bonds rather than long-term bonds. Today, the financial markets are expecting interest rates to rise. If so, intermediate-term bond funds will do better than long-term funds,” he says.

In light of the current interest rate environment, Tolley is also staying away from long-term bond funds, preferring to park cash in short-term bank CDs until interest rates move up. But Brown says rising interest rates won’t really affect the average investor. “The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates over the next year, but that is only an indication of a healthy economy,” he explains. “When interest rates start going up, the stock market will not go down. Instead, stock market investors will see this as an indication of prosperity and will begin a buying trend.” If you’ve spread your dollars among solid mutual funds in different categories, you’ll catch the trend, regardless of what investors start buying.