These are the top funds in five major categories, ranked according to three-year returns. We primarily consider funds with managers in place for at least three years; the only exceptions are managers with at least three years’ experience in a similar capacity. We don’t rank funds with front or back-end loads greater than 3 percent or funds that are closed to new investors, have less than $25 million in assets, have minimums of $10,000 or more, have trust restrictions or are single-state muni-bond funds. All data as of 08/31/09.

Source: Morningstar, Bloomberg

The Louis Rukeyser Honor Roll

Funds that have been on The Rukeyser 100 more than 80 percent of the past three years (at least 29 out of 36 months) make it onto The Louis Rukeyser Honor Roll. Their names are in green and marked with laurels.

On the Move

– T. Rowe Price New Asia (PRASX) has dropped from coverage with the departure of Asia maven Frances Dysasco, who retired on August 1. Her replacement, Anh Lu, comes well recommended, having spent the past eight years as an Asia analyst with T. Rowe Price and having co-managed the fund since April. She also served a stint as co-manager of T. Rowe Price International Discovery (PRIDX). Although Dysasco will stick with her predecessor’s strategy, we’re standing aside until we get a better sense of how she’ll perform on her own. For now, we suggest that existing shareholders stand pat and not add to their positions. Potential new investors should hold off placing money in the fund until Lu has a couple quarters under her belt.

– It’s only fitting that in a month when we cover some of our favorite focused funds, Westport R (WPFRX) should reappear in the Rukeyser 100 after a brief hiatus. A value-centric focused fund, Westport R has underperformed in recent months as a dearth of opportunities forced manager Ed Nicklin to hold a large cash position (currently more than 9 percent of assets). Eschewing deep value plays, Nicklin has successfully used his broad mandate to go to cash as needed to help shepherd the fund to an enviable long-term track record, ranking in the top 2 percent and 10 percent of mid-cap blend funds on a five- and 10-year basis, respectively.

Funds Added This Month

Artisan Mid-Cap Value
Robeco Mid-Cap Value
Westport R
Aston/Optimum Mid Cap N
T Rowe Price Health Sciences
Matthews Pacific Tiger
Buffalo High-Yield
Managers Global Bond
AmCent T/F Bond
Dreyfus AMT-Free Muni Bond I

Funds Dropped This Month

Wells Fargo Adv Growth
Hussman Strategic Growth
Aston/Montag & Caldwell Growth N
Artisan Mid-Cap
Red Oak Techology Select
T Rowe Price New Asia
Pax World High Yield
Payden Emerging Markets Bond
ISI Managed Municipal
WF Adv Muni Bond