Hold it: a buy-and-hold approach keeps this tech fund going strong

Entrepreneur, August, 2005 by Dian Vujovich

If you're looking for a tech fund with a long, rich history, the Franklin DynaTech Fund (FKDNX) is hard to top. Its managers have invested in cutting-edge technology companies and sought out innovative investment opportunities since the fund's creation in 1968. In the early 1970s, that meant holding oil, gas and airline companies. Today, it's health-care and internet stocks that catch the fund managers' eyes.

At the end of first quarter 2005, about 28 percent of the fund's 80 or so stocks were invested in electronic tech stocks, 24 percent in health technology and 23 percent in tech services companies, according to Matt Moberg, one of DynaTech's portfolio managers. "The fund looks across the economy for innovative products and technologies," Moberg says.

For investors who love a buy-and-hold strategy, DynaTech's investment philosophy is bound to please. "For the past three years, the turnover on the fund has averaged about 15 percent," says Moberg. "That implies a holding period of about 6.6 years." He notes that the average tech fund's holding period is about 12 months.

Ranked No.1 in the Science and Technology category for the past five years by Lipper, the risks to investors in this fund are like those of other sector-specific equity funds--market cycles.

DIAN VUJOVICH is an author, syndicated columnist and publisher of fund-investing site www.fundfreebies.com.