The Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.4 percent, and the Standard & Poor's Index dropped 3.2 percent. The Nasdaq composite index eked out a 0.6 percent gain for the quarter.
Despite posting a slight gain in the second quarter, diversified U.S. stock funds are down 10 percent for the year.
Schultz's MTB Mid Cap Growth A class fund had the best return among Maryland's diversified stock funds in the quarter with a 9 percent gain. Schultz has held major stakes in oil field services provider Weatherford International, mining company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and other energy-related stocks for several years, positioning the fund to take advantage of global demand for commodities.
Schultz said he and his co-manager William Dwyer had anticipated problems in the housing and financial markets early on, so their fund had limited exposure in those sectors.
"We had generally also anticipated that this would dampen the level of economic activity domestically, and this has tilted in favor of companies and sectors that stood to benefit from stronger growth in the global economy," he said. "So we had relatively large investments in energy, materials and industrials, particularly industrial companies related to energy and materials and export markets."
Several Maryland-based energy and commodities sector funds posted large gains last quarter. The Rydex Series Energy Services A class fund produced a 30.7 percent return; its Commodities Strategy H class fund a 27.7 percent return.
Price's New Era fund, which invests in companies that own or develop natural resources and commodities, gained 20.7 percent.
"Anything related to natural resources and commodities was certainly in play in the second quarter," said Tjornehoj of Lipper.
Commodities funds gained nearly 30 percent year-to-date as of June 30, while natural resources funds showed a 19.57 percent return.
Latin American funds rose 10 percent for the second quarter, outperforming other international stock funds. T. Rowe Price's fund that invests in companies in Latin American countries had a 8.6 percent return.
The Legg Mason Value Trust fund run by Bill Miller continued its recent slump, losing 11 percent in the second quarter.
hanah.cho@baltsun.com
Charts
How the mutual funds did. PG 6D
