Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (July 26, 2002) -- Concerns over accounting irregularities and disappointing earnings clobbered mutual funds during the second quarter, with 93 percent of all stock funds reporting negative returns, Weiss Ratings, Inc. reported.
The dismal Q2 performance marked a major nosedive from an already bleak first quarter results, when 45 percent of stock funds reported losses.
While the majority of fund sectors suffered steep declines during the second quarter, the exceptions were precious metals and real estate-related funds. Precious metals funds provided an average return of 10.99 percent, while funds specializing in real estate-related equities yielded an average return of 4.82 percent, according to the report.
In addition, 87 percent of bond funds reported positive returns for the quarter. However, the average return to investors was a meager 2.08 percent.
-- Electronic Accountant Newswire staff
