The funds can be volatile, but not in a predicable way. Rather than strictly rolling with the economy, portfolio managers try to soften the blows. Managers of the Rydex fund choose from among roughly 60 stocks in Rydex's informal leisure index. What it does not include are restaurants or consumer non-cyclicals, like Starbucks or McDonald's. We don't define those as leisure.
ICON has quite a different philosophy.
Not only does it indulge heavily in restaurants, but to stabilize the portfolio in a stormy economy, managers will mix in a dose of consumer staples like food and agriculture. Their acquisitions last year included Hormel, Archer Daniels Midland and even some grocery stores, helping to drive positive returns this year. Fill in this form for your free trial issue. Track top CEOs and be the first to know. U.S. indexes are real-time.