Top technology fund, leads in part because of SEPR
Firsthand Technology Value Leads All Mutual Funds on Five-Year Anniversary
BusinessWire, Monday, June 14, 1999 at 07:10
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 1999--
Fund Returned 43.87% Annualized Over Five Years,
Has Never Owned a Dot-Com Stock
The Firsthand Technology Value Fund (NASDAQ:TVFQX), which celebrated its five-year anniversary on May 20, 1999, now ranks as the top performer among all mutual funds on the basis of five-year total return, with an annualized five-year total return of 43.87% for the period ending May 31, 1999, according to the Morningstar Principia Pro(TM) database.
Over the same period, the Fund outperformed the S&P 500 Index and the Morningstar Specialty-Technology category average by 18.01% and 11.72% respectively on an annualized basis, and by 300.57% and 213.37% respectively on a cumulative basis. The Fund invests primarily in companies in the electronic technology and medical technology fields.
Co-portfolio managers Kevin Landis and Ken Kam, who founded Firsthand Funds, the first mutual fund family based in the Silicon Valley, in 1994, note that the Fund has been able to achieve its record with a value-oriented approach to technology investing which has steered them away from owning the "dot-com" stocks which have commanded so much investor attention in recent years. In May 1999, when the Dow Jones Internet Index declined 15.94%, the Firsthand Technology Value Fund led the Morningstar Specialty-Technology category with a 10.46% return.
"We want investors to know that they don't have to chase the performance of the dot-com stocks in order to invest in the growth of the Internet," said Landis, who manages the electronic technology portion of the Fund. "Our goal for the Technology Value Fund has been to uncover for our shareholders opportunities in technology which are not apparent to all investors and thus have a significant valuation advantage over the companies which have become household names. We continue to see no end of such opportunities to invest in the major drivers of growth in technology."
Top Fund holdings which Landis regards as Internet infrastructure plays -- that is, companies which are capitalizing on the growth of the Internet but are not widely recognized by investors as Internet stocks -- include Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (NASDAQ:AMCC), Galileo Technology Ltd. (NASDAQ:GALT), Level One Communications (NASDAQ:LEVL), PMC - Sierra, Inc. (NASDAQ:PMCS), and Vitesse Semiconductor (NASDAQ:VTSS). Primarily because of valuation concerns, the Fund has never owned stocks such as Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Compaq Computer (NYSE:CPQ), Dell Computer (NASDAQ:DELL), eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY), or Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO).
"We launched the Fund five years ago with the belief that firsthand professional experience in the high-tech and medical-tech fields gives us an investment edge in these sectors," said Kam, who manages the medical technology portion of the Fund. Some of the Fund's holdings in the medical technology fields which have contributed significantly to the Fund's performance have been Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), Cardima, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRDM), CardioThoracic Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTSI), Immunex Corporation (NASDAQ:IMNX), and Sepracor Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPR).
Prior to starting Firsthand Funds, Landis managed new product development at S-MOS Systems, a Silicon Valley semiconductor business, and served as semiconductor analyst at Dataquest. Kam co-founded Novoste Corporation, a developer of advanced cardiac catheters.
Landis also manages the Firsthand Technology Leaders Fund (NASDAQ:TLFQX), launched in December of 1997, which seeks to invest in companies with the strongest competitive position within the most promising segments of high technology; and the Firsthand Technology Innovators Fund (NASDAQ:TIFQX), launched in May of 1998, which seeks to invest in companies high technology industry best positioned to introduce successful new products. Kam manages the Firsthand Medical Specialists Fund (cusip No. 45837N202), launched in December of 1997, which invests primarily in companies in the health and biotechnology field with a strong earnings growth outlook and potential for capital appreciation.
Firsthand currently manages approximately $375 million in total assets.
The Firsthand Technology Value Fund's one-year, three-year, five-year, and since inception average annual total returns for the periods ended May 31, 1999, were 67.49%, 26.30%, 43.87%, and 43.65% respectively. The Fund ranked No. 1 among all 4,608 mutual funds in the Morningstar Principia Pro database on the basis of five-year total return as of May 31, 1999, No. 206 out of 7,106 funds for the three-year period and No. 46 out of 10,026 funds for the one-year period. In the Morningstar Specialty-Technology category, the Fund ranked No. 1 among 26 funds on the basis of five-year total return as of May 31, 1999, No. 20 out of 75 funds for the three year period and No. 9 out of 40 funds for the one-year period. The number of funds cited for each time period includes individual shares classes for all funds.
The returns and rankings for the Fund are based on historical results and are not intended to indicate future performance. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index of common stock prices which includes reinvestment of dividends and is generally considered representative of the U.S. stock markets.
For a prospectus containing more complete information on the Firsthand Funds, including charges and expenses, please call 888-884-2675 or visit the Firsthand web site at www.firsthandfunds.com. The Funds are available directly through Firsthand or through the fund supermarkets at Schwab, Fidelity and Jack White. Investors should read the prospectus carefully before investing.
CONTACT: Firsthand Funds, San Jose
Steven Witt, 408/289-5577
or
Hewes Communications, New York
Tony Denninger, 212/207-9452
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET
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Companies or Securities discussed in this article:
Symbol Name
NASDAQ:TVFQX technology val fd (interactve)
NASDAQ:AMCC
NASDAQ:GALT
NASDAQ:LEVL Level One Communications
NASDAQ:PMCS Pmc-Sierra Inc
NASDAQ:VTSS Vitesse Semiconductor
NASDAQ:AMZN
NYSE:CPQ Compaq Computer
NASDAQ:DELL Dell Computer Corp
NASDAQ:EBAY Ebay Inc
NASDAQ:YHOO Yahoo Inc
NASDAQ:AMGN Amgen Inc
NASDAQ:CRDM
NASDAQ:CTSI Cardiothoracic Systems
NASDAQ:IMNX Immunex Corp
NASDAQ:SEPR Sepracor Inc
NASDAQ:TLFQX Tech Leaders Fd Firsthand Fds
NASDAQ:TIFQX
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