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HealthEquity Funds

detrick
edited May 2013 in Fund Discussions
Hi,

I have an HSA with HealthEquity and would appreciate any input/advice on the available funds they have. It seems that in many cases there are multiple mutual funds in a single asset class and I am trying to better understand how to compare and select one.








































Category SymbolFundName
COMMODITIES BROAD BASKETPCRDXPIMCO COMMODITY REAL RET STRAT D
DIVERSIFIED EMERGING MKTSRNWEXAMERICAN FUNDS NEW WORLD R4
DIVERSIFIED EMERGING MKTSDREGXDRIEHAUS EMERGING MARKETS GROWTH
DIVERSIFIED EMERGING MKTSODVNXOPPENHEIMER DEVELOPING MARKETS N
DIVERSIFIED EMERGING MKTSHEMZXVIRTUS EMRG MKTS OPPTY FD CL A
FOREIGN LARGE BLENDARTKXARTISAN INTERNATIONAL VALUE INVESTOR
FOREIGN LARGE BLENDLISOXLAZARD INTL STRATEGIC EQUITY OPEN
FOREIGN LARGE BLENDOIDNXOPPENHEIMER INTERNATIONAL DIVERSIFIED N
FOREIGN LARGE GROWTHOIGAXOPPENHEIMER INTERNATIONAL GROWTH A
FOREIGN LARGE VALUEMINGXMFS INTERNATIONAL VALUE R3
INFLATION-PROTECTED BONDPRRRXPIMCO REAL RETURN R
INTERMEDIATE-TERM BONDCHTBXASTON/TCH FIXED INCOME N
INTERMEDIATE-TERM BONDMWTRXMETROPOLITAN WEST TOTAL RETURN BOND M
INTERMEDIATE-TERM BONDPIOBX PIONEER BOND FUND CL A
INTERMEDIATE-TERM BONDCMPIXPRINCIPAL INCOME A
INTERMEDIATE-TERM BONDPDBAXPRUDENTIAL TOTAL RETURN BOND A
LARGE BLENDSMGIXCOLUMBIA CONTRARIAN CORE Z
LARGE GROWTHWCEYXIVY CORE EQUITY Y
LARGE VALUEIEDAXING LARGE CAP VALUE A
LARGE VALUELCEIXINVESCO DIVERSIFIED DIVIDEND INVESTOR
LARGE VALUEFDSAXSUNAMERICA FOCUSED DIVIDEND STRATEGY A
MID-CAP BLENDFEFAXFIRST EAGLE FUND OF AMERICA CL A
MID-CAP GROWTHNICSXNICHOLAS
MID-CAP GROWTHPEMGXPRINCIPAL MIDCAP A
MID-CAP GROWTHRYBHXRYDEX S&P MIDCAP 400 PURE GROWTH H
MODERATE ALLOCATION BALFXAMERICAN FUNDS AMERICAN BALANCED F-1
NATURAL RESOURCESFMFTXFIDELITY ADVISOR MATERIALS T
NATURAL RESOURCESICBMXICON MATERIALS S
NATURAL RESOURCESRYBAXRYDEX BASIC MATERIALS ADV
REAL ESTATERRREXDWS RREEF REAL ESTATE SECURITIES S
REAL ESTATEFHETXFIDELITY ADVISOR REAL ESTATE T
REAL ESTATEPETDXPIMCO REAL ESTATE REAL RETURN STRATEGY D
REAL ESTATEHLPPXREMS REAL ESTATE VALUE OPPORTUNITY P
SMALL GROWTHSASMXCLEARBRIDGE SMALL CAP GROWTH A
SMALL GROWTHJGMRXJANUS TRITON R
WORLD BONDGOBAXLEGG MASON BW GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES BD A
WORLD BONDMGGBXMANAGERS GLOBAL INCOME OPPORTUNITY
WORLD BONDPFODXPIMCO FOREIGN BOND (USD-HEDGED) D
WORLD BONDGTRAXPRUDENTIAL GLOBAL TOTAL RETURN A
Also, are there any thoughts on COLUMBIA CONTRARIAN CORE Z (SMGIX)? I had been using a Vanguard Fund, but it is being replaced with this.

Thanks!

Comments

  • jerry
    While I have not had a Health service Account I assume that the correct advice is somewhat similar to the standard advice for retirement funds which is if you are young be aggresive as you won't need the money (you may of course as accidents happen ) and as you grow older you are more likely to need it and so your asset allocation should be more conservative . This raises the question, can you have more than one fund in the account?.
    In any event I think your asset allocation in this account should be whatever your planned allocation for your retirement account will be 5-10 years in the future.

    Sorry for the lack of a specific response but other than a few of the Pimco bond funds I am not very familiar with most of these funds
  • andrei
    Interesting collection of funds, many of which are top-notch. For example, all emerging markets funds in the list are on the top of the list in M*, some of them are closed to new investors, but perhaps you can invest in them in this plan. The same is true for ARTKX, which is one of the best international value fund, closed to new investors.
  • AndyJ
    This is a health savings account, yes? I don't know that much about them, but it seems like the first thing you'd want to do is make an allocation plan based on age, how much you're putting into it, what your med bills are like, how much liquidity you need in the account, things like that, before analyzing the specific fund options. That might tell you, for just one example, whether you're really a candidate for an EM stock fund and its implied volatility.

    Imho, the list looks to have decent options in most categories except balanced/allocation funds.
  • beebee
    edited May 2013
    Since you are responsible for certain health cost I woud determine what that amount would be in a 1-3 year timeframe and allocate those dollars to conservative investments. As you spend down these health savings remember to reallocate so you always have a 1-3 year conservative allocation to access. If your HSA accumulates beyond these 1-3 year health needs than create a diversified portfolio with 1/2 US and 1/2 Foriegn.

    Choices for 1-3 year (safe) money:
    Cash = 20% at all times to meet deductibles and maintenance expenses.
    MWTRX - 1st choice...excellent long term safe money position (70% of safe money)
    CHTBX - 2nd
    PFODX - 3rd
    PRRRX - 4th, May help protect your safe money when rates (inflation) returns (10% of safe money)
  • detrick
    Thank you all for your feedback - its appreciated. I wasn't entirely wanting to discuss asset allocation or the ins-and-outs of HSAs in detail. Rather, I wanted to better understand how I could go about selecting a particular fund in a given asset class. Are there other threads that already cover this? If so - please point me to them!:) Are there some philosophies that folks here ascribe to?

    For example, all 4 diversified emerging markets funds (RNWEX, DREGX, ODVNX, HEMZX) are Morningstar 5 star funds, but have different expense ratios, performance history, and net assets. And probably a lot of other things!

    Are there some good methods to assess mutual funds that I could work with? Right now I feel like I am close to just picking something in the dark. As an example andrei mentions that ARTKX is one of the "best" international value funds. That's great! But why?

    Thanks!
  • AndyJ
    edited May 2013
    You're asking how to pick a mutual fund in general? If that's it, I'd suggest starting with some basic reading, such as:

    http://www.investopedia.com/university/quality-mutual-fund/

    You'd also be well advised to explore M* beyond the simple headline star ratings. The ratings and risk pages for individual funds are a good place to get headed in the right direction.

    However, if you're to pick something that's right for your situation, you won't be able to avoid the kind of thinking suggested earlier in this thread.
  • msf
    Detrick, meet AMatMFO. AMatMFO, meet detrick.

    AMatMFO recently started a thread on a particular fund in your set of offerings - SunAmerica Focused Div Strategy (FDSAX). In this thread you'll find some positive comments about the fund that go beyond counting stars. So you might find that thread useful.

    Conversely, the question there is how to purchase the fund without paying the front end load. Using an HSA account like this one (assuming the investor has an HSA account that could be transferred) might be an answer to the question.

    One qualification - I can't tell for sure whether HealthEquity waives front end loads. What I can tell from looking at its fund list, is that not all loads are waived. Funds are often sold in multiple share classes, and if the share class you're looking at charges too much (technically, a 12b-1 fee in excess of 0.25%/year), it is considered a load fund. That extra charge can be used to pay the broker (or HealthEquity).

    One of the funds sold in this HSA, PIMCO Real Return R (PRRRX), fits that description. So you need to look out for not only which funds you want, but whether you'd be paying too much for them by buying them here. (The PIMCO fund is available from pretty much any broker in a "D class" that charges 1/4% less - PRRDX.)
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