Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares have fallen almost 28 percent since the middle of September, and shareholders aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch. Investors of mutual funds which invested heavily on shares of Apple are also feeling the pain.
Reuters cites statistics from Lipper, a company owned by Thomson Reuters, and says that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is around 10 percent of the holdings of some of the best-performing mutual funds. Up until now, those mutual funds have enjoyed positive gains from its holdings in Apple, which even though it’s falling right now, still rose about 32 percent this year.
Morningstar shows that “$4.5 billion has been added to funds with overweight stakes in Apple this year.” And unfortunately for funds investors, those dollars were added after March when the tech giant’s stock rose over $600 per share. This means that most funds investors have seen nothing but loss in its Apple stake since the investment was made.
Because of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s decline in recent months, the stock has been dragging down portfolios that had previously done very well. The value of these funds’ stakes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been decreasing as the price of the stock falls. Matthew 25, one of the highest performing funds, has gained less than 7 percent since March according to Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN), which is significantly less than the fund’s year-to-date increase, which is 31 percent.
According to Reuters, experts have pointed out the dangers associated with concentrating any portfolio in any one stock. Such large stakes in single companies leave the entire portfolio exposed. Experts recommend that mutual funds not hold any more than 10 percent of its holdings in one company.
