Biggest Losers Among Stock Funds Overall

Here are the equity mutual funds with the lowest returns for 1998, along with returns for other periods and their categories and “star” ratings from Morningstar. Rating descriptions can be found with the special tables beginning on C12. Funds that invest in Latin America and in commodity companies dominate the 1998 list of worst-performing funds. (For a list of the funds that gained the most, see C5.)

*--*

Obj Cat 3-yr Total % Return Fund Cat Rtg Star 4th Q 1998 3-yr Fidelity Sel Energy Service SN 2 1 -11.5 -49.7 4.4 State St Res B Glob Res SN 1 1 -16.0 -48.9 -3.3 Excelsior Latin America LS 2 2 6.6 -47.6 -6.5 Invesco Latin American Grow LS 2 2 10.6 -45.7 -6.6 AIM B Latin Amer Growth LS 1 2 9.9 -44.5 -9.7 Crabbe Huson Special A SB 1 1 -0.1 -42.9 -12.3 Merrill Lynch B Latin Amer LS 3 2 8.6 -39.3 -2.1 Morg Stan Dean Wit B TCW Lat LS 3 2 5.0 -39.0 -0.9 Merrill Lynch D Latin Amer LS 3 2 8.8 -38.8 -1.3 Evergreen B Latin America LS 0 2 0.6 -38.5 -3.6 Fidelity Latin America LS 4 3 9.5 -38.3 2.3 Montgomery Emerging Mkts R EM 2 2 7.4 -38.3 -12.4 AIM B Emerging Markets EM 1 1 8.7 -38.0 -18.4 Morg Stan DW Inst Latin Am A LS 5 3 8.3 -37.1 9.7 BlackRock Svc Intl Emerg EM 2 2 10.3 -36.8 -13.8 Dreyfus Aggressive Growth SG 1 1 19.9 -36.7 -13.7 Merrill Lynch B Amer Income EM 1 1 5.5 -36.6 -5.2 BlackRock Inst Intl Emerg EM 2 2 10.6 -36.6 -13.5 Van Kampen A Latin Amer LS 5 3 9.9 -35.9 9.6 Morg Stan DW Inst Emg Debt A EB 3 1 10.8 -35.8 4.5 T Rowe Price Latin America LS 4 3 7.5 -35.4 1.7 AIM A Developing Markets IH 1 2 9.3 -35.3 -9.7 Montgomery Inst Emerg Mkts EM 3 2 10.2 -35.0 -10.4 AIM Global Theme Resources B SN 2 1 3.4 -34.7 -2.1 Robertson Stephens Glo Nat A SN 1 1 -9.9 -34.5 -8.5 Prudent Bear DH 0 NA -29.2 -34.1 -18.4 Phoenix B Emerging Mkts Bond EB 2 1 16.5 -33.5 4.8 Morg Stan Dean Wit A TCW Emg EM 3 2 15.4 -33.0 -7.7 US Global Inv Gold Shares SP 1 1 -6.8 -33.0 -40.3 Merrill Lynch B Dev Cap Mkts EM 2 2 12.0 -32.9 -11.5 Pioneer B Emerging Markets EM 4 2 14.4 -32.8 -5.0 Robertson Stephens Contrar A WS 1 2 6.5 -32.5 -16.7 Van Eck Global Hard Assets A SN 4 1 -0.4 -32.2 4.1 SEI Inst Style Intl Emg Mkt A EM 2 2 14.3 -32.0 -12.4 Dreyfus Premier Aggr Grow A MG 1 1 21.2 -30.8 -16.3 JP Morgan Emerging Mkts Eq EM 2 2 14.5 -30.8 -11.5 GMO III Emerging Country Dbt EB 4 1 13.2 -30.6 14.6 JP Morgan Inst Emg Mkts Eq EM 2 2 15.2 -30.3 -11.2 Scudder Emerging Mkts Income EB 3 1 10.4 -30.3 2.0 Scudder Latin America LS 4 3 6.7 -29.7 5.8 Morgan Grenfell Emg Mkts Eq EM 2 2 12.7 -29.7 -11.9 Lexington Strategic Silver SP 4 1 -7.1 -29.6 -12.8 AIM B Emerging Markets Debt EB 3 1 11.4 -29.3 2.2 Lexington Worldwide Emg Mkts EM 2 2 13.4 -29.3 -12.4

*--*