Growth of $10,000
The Growth of $10,000 graph shows a fund's performance based on how $10,000 invested in the fund would have grown over time. The returns used in the graph are not load-adjusted. The growth of $10,000 begins at the date of the fund's inception, or the first year listed on the graph, whichever is appropriate.
Located alongside the fund's graph line is a line that represents the growth of $10,000 in either the S&P 500 index (for stock funds and hybrid funds) or the Barclays Aggregate index (for bond funds). The third line represents the fund’s Morningstar category (see definition on Snapshot screen). These lines allow investors to compare the performance of the fund with the performance of a benchmark index and the fund’s Morningstar category.
Both lines are plotted on a logarithmic scale, so that identical percentage changes in the value of an investment have the same vertical distance on the graph.
For example, the vertical distance between $10,000 and $20,000 is the same as the distance between $20,000 and $40,000 because both represent a 100% increase in investment value. This provides a more accurate representation of performance than would a simple arithmetic graph. The graphs are scaled so that the full length of the vertical axis represents a tenfold increase in investment value. For securities with returns that have exhibited greater than a tenfold increase over the period shown in the graph, the vertical axis has been compressed accordingly.
Calendar-Year Total Returns
Total returns calculated on a calendar-year basis.
Total Return %
Includes both income (in the form of dividends or interest payments) and capital gains or losses (the increase or decrease in the value of a security). Morningstar calculates total return by taking the change in a fund's NAV, assuming the reinvestment of all income and capital gains distributions (on the actual reinvestment date used by the fund) during the period, and then dividing by the initial NAV.
Unless marked as load-adjusted total returns, Morningstar does not adjust total return for sales charges or for redemption fees. Total returns do account for management, administrative, and 12b-1 fees and other costs automatically deducted from fund assets.
+/- Index
A benchmark index gives the investor a point of reference for evaluating a fund's performance. In all cases where such comparisons are made, Morningstar uses the S&P 500 as the primary benchmark for stock-oriented funds, and the Barclays Aggregate Bond index (an overall bond benchmark) as the benchmark index for bond funds. The +/- (Calendar Year) figure indicates the amount by which a fund over- or underperformed its primary index during a given calendar year.
+/- Category
The Morningstar category gives the investor a point of reference for evaluating a fund's performance. The +/- (Calendar Year) figure indicates the amount by which a fund over- or underperformed its category during a given calendar year.
% Rank in Category
This is the fund’s total-return percentile rank for the specified calendar year relative to all funds that have the same Morningstar category. The highest (or most favorable) percentile rank is 1 and the lowest (or least favorable) percentile rank is 100. The top-performing fund in a category will always receive a rank of 1. Percentile ranks within categories are most useful in those categories that have a large number of funds.
Trailing Total Returns
All references to total return represent a fund's gains over a specified period of time. Total return includes both income (in the form of dividends or interest payments) and capital gains or losses (the increase or decrease in the value of a security). Morningstar calculates total return by taking the change in a fund's NAV, assuming the reinvestment of all income and capital gains distributions (on the actual reinvestment date used by the fund) during the period, and then dividing by the initial NAV.
Unless marked as load-adjusted total returns, Morningstar does not adjust total return for sales charges or for redemption fees. (Morningstar Return, Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Ratings, and the load-adjusted returns do incorporate those fees.) Total returns do account for management, administrative, and 12b-1 fees and other costs automatically deducted from fund assets.
+/- S&P 500
A benchmark index gives the investor a point of reference for evaluating a fund's performance. In all cases where such comparisons are made, Morningstar uses the S&P 500 as the primary benchmark for stock-oriented funds. The +/- (Trailing Time Period) figure indicates the amount by which a fund over or underperformed the S&P 500 during the specified time period.
% Rank in Category
This is the fund’s total-return percentile rank for the specified time period relative to all funds that have the same Morningstar category. The highest (or most favorable) percentile rank is 1 and the lowest (or least favorable) percentile rank is 100. The top-performing fund in a category will always receive a rank of 1. Percentile ranks within categories are most useful in those categories that have a large number of funds.
Historical Quarterly Returns
Quarterly returns break out a fund's performance over successive quarters of the calendar year. This can be useful in examining how volatile a fund has been over fairly short time periods.
Note: Adding up a fund's quarterly returns over the course of a year will not necessarily give you a number that equates with the fund's calendar-year return for that year. This is because of the effects of compounding returns over the course of a year.
Tax Analysis
Pretax Return
See the trailing total returns definition above.
Return After Taxes shows a fund's annualized tax-adjusted and load-adjusted total return for the time period specified. Interest income, dividends and capital gains are each taxed at the highest federal tax rate prevailing. State and local taxes as well as individual-specific issues are ignored.
Note: Most interest income from municipal-bond funds is exempt from federal tax, while capital gains from municipal bond funds are taxable.
Tax-adjusted Return
Tax-adjusted Return shows a fund's annualized tax-adjusted and load-adjusted total return for the time period specified. Interest income, dividends and capital gains are each taxed at the highest federal tax rate prevailing. State and local taxes as well as individual-specific issues are ignored.
Note: Most interest income from municipal-bond funds is exempt from federal tax, while capital gains from municipal bond funds are taxable.
Morningstar applies the appropriate historical tax rate based on the date of the distribution and updates effective tax rates whenever there is a tax law change.
Fund companies can denote whether a dividend is non-qualified or qualified. If fund companies provide us with this information, the tax-adjusted returns apply the correct rate (assuming the highest tax bracket). If fund companies neglect to denote the dividend category, we assume it is non-qualified and apply the highest regular income tax rates.
Per the SEC's guidance about this topic, all after-tax returns are also adjusted for loads and recurring fees. Therefore, these are technically "load- and tax-adjusted returns" and not simply "tax-adjusted returns." Therefore, a fund's after-tax return may be lower than its total return because of tax reasons, sales charges, or both.
These returns are Returns After Taxes on Distributions. This means they reflect the tax effects on shareholders of the portfolio manager's purchases and sales of portfolio securities. They assume that the investor continued to hold fund shares at the end of the time period, and, as a result, reflects the effect of taxable distributions by a fund to its shareholders but not any taxable gain or loss that would have been realized by a shareholder upon the sale of fund shares. After distributions are taxed, they are reinvested in the fund.
% Rank in Category
This is the fund’s tax-adjusted total-return percentile rank for the specified time period relative to all funds that have the same Morningstar category. The highest (or most favorable) percentile rank is 1 and the lowest (or least favorable) percentile rank is 100. The top-performing fund in a category will always receive a rank of 1. Percentile ranks within categories are most useful in those categories that have a large number of funds.
Tax Cost Ratio
This represents the percentage-point reduction in an annualized return that results from income taxes. The calculation assumes investors pay the maximum federal rate on capital gains and ordinary income. For example, if a fund made short-term capital-gains and income distributions that averaged 10% of its NAV over the past three years, an investor in the 35% tax bracket would have a tax cost ratio of 3.5 percentage points. (The 35% tax rate was used for illustrative purposes because, according to current tax law, the maximum income-tax rate will fall to that level. However, our tax-cost calculation uses the maximum income-tax rate that applied during the year in which the distribution was made.)
Potential Capital Gains Exposure
Potential capital gain exposure is the percentage of a fund’s total assets that represent capital appreciation. In other words, this is how much of the fund’s assets would be subject to taxation if the fund were to liquidate today.
Where a negative number appears, the fund has reported losses on its books. We cannot predict what a fund’s taxable distributions might be, but we can offer some clues based on a fund’s liquidation liability.