In this article, we're going to be providing a review of Rydex Mutual Funds. At one time, Rydex was geared more towards the elite investor, since their minimum investment for any fund was $25,000 (it is now $100). It's also a relatively small player in the mutual fund space, with only a little over $25 billion in assets under management.
Rydex Family of Mutual Funds
Rydex Funds is a relative newcomer to the mutual fund scene. Started in 1993 by its founder Skip Viragh, his aim was to create a family of mutual funds that performed well, regardless of market conditions. Rydex is also known for starting the first leveraged mutual fund: Rydex Nova Fund.
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Today, Rydex offers investors leveraged equity, fixed income, as well as inverse equity funds. Rydex mutual funds are offered through large brokerage houses including Fidelity, Charles Schwab, T.D. Waterhouse, and E*Trade. Rydex offers more than 140 investment products tailored to a variety of market conditions, including 18 sector funds. They also offer retirement planning options such as Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, Rollover IRAs, SEP IRAs, as well as 403(b) plans.
In 2010, Rydex combined with Security Global Investors and the combined company was known as Rydex/SGI. In 2012, Guggenheim Investments purchased Rydex/SGI, and the holding company now manages $265 billion in assets.
Funds Fee Structures and Returns
Morningstar ratings indicate the expense ratios for mutual funds at Rydex are Above Average. This includes their domestic stock funds (1.86%) and taxable bond fund (1.80%). Although Rydex claims they offer investors options to match any market condition, this does not translate into a balance of stock and bond funds. Their distribution of asset class indicates only 1.86% in bonds (taxable bond funds). In fact, nearly all assets sit in domestic stock funds or cash (98.14%) as of September 2019.
As previously mentioned, the minimum investment at Rydex is $2,500, and 82.2% are no-load mutual funds. As of September 2019, the average return for the Rydex family of mutual funds over the last five years was 11.12%, among the best reviewed to date.
Top Rated Funds at Rydex
When looking at the top rated funds at Rydex, there does not appear to be any pattern. One of the mutual funds has a front-load of only 1.00%. All three funds require a $2,500 minimum, while the fund types range from growth stocks to blends. With that brief introduction, listed below are the top rated mutual funds from Rydex:
Rydex High Yield Strategy (RYHGX)
Assets: $94.1 million
Category: US Fund High Yield Bond
Specialty: None
Top Three Holdings: Ishares Iboxx $ High Yield
Load: None
Minimum Investment: $2,500
Expense Ratio: 1.61%
5-Year Average Return: 7.90%
Rydex Inverse Mid Cap Strategy (RYMHX)
Assets: $0.70 million
Category: US Fund Bear Market
Specialty: Bear Market
Top Three Holdings: S&P Midcap 400 Index
Load: None
Minimum Investment: $2,500
Expense Ratio: 1.70%
5-Year Average Return: -9.45%
Rydex Inverse Russell 2000 (RYCQX)
Assets: $9.5 million
Category: Large Blend
Specialty: Bear Market
Top Three Holdings: Russell 2000 Index
Load: 1.0%
Minimum Investment: $2,500
Expense Ratio: 2.58%
5-Year Average Return: -10.46%
About the Author - Rydex Mutual Funds
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