QikReview: Moderate Allocation Funds - Dodge & Cox, Putnam

Continuing with the series of (401)k funds reviews, below are reviews of the Moderate Allocation funds.

Dodge & Cox Balanced (DODBX)

Category: Moderate Allocation
Rating: 4
Capital Gains Exposure: -32%
Assets: $15.613 bil
Expense Ratio: 0.53%
Turnover Ratio: 27%
Yield: 3.63%
Redemption Period: 0 days
Redemption Fee: 0%
3-Year Total Cost: $170
Minimum Investment: $2,500
Comments: This fund invests into stocks (72) and Bonds (27). It invests into Giant (51), Large (37), and Medium (11) companies. It invests into the following sectors Hardware (12), Media (12), Healthcare (25), Consumer Services (7), Financials (14), Consumer Goods (5), Industrial Materials (10), and Energy (8). The fund holds 82 stocks and 277 bonds; it has 25% of assets in the top ten holdings. I prefer more concentrated portoflios, but this fund does hold many solid stocks - among it's top picks are Novartis, Wells Fargo, WellPoint, GE, and Shlumberger. This fund ranks in the top 5% in it's category for the 10-year period while in the middle of the pack for other time periods. This is a solid fund with a pretty low expense ratio and an experienced management team.
Grade: B

George Putnam Fund of Boston (PGEOX.LW)

Category: Moderate Allocation
Rating: 2
Capital Gains Exposure: N/A
Assets: $1.969 bil
Expense Ratio: 0.98%
Turnover Ratio: 124%
Yield: 5.6%
Redemption Period: 7 days
Redemption Fee: 1%
3-Year Total Cost: $863
Minimum Investment: $500
Comments: It invests into Giant (38), Large (35), and Medium (21) companies. This fund has 51% in stocks, 81% in bonds, and borrows 28% cash. This fund invests into the following sectors: Hardware (8), Telecom (8), Healthcare (11), Consumer Services (5), Financials (23), Consumer Goods (9), Industrial Materials (20), Energy (6), and Utilities (6). This fund has 184 stock holdings and 1,671 bond holdings. It has 37% of assets in the top ten holdings. This fund's performance relative to peers has been rather dismal as it returned 0.77% over the 10-year period. This charges a high fee for worse than the market performance. Not worth it.
Grade: D-

Full List of Current Series of 401(k) Fund Reviews:

• Introduction and Large-Cap Funds - American Funds Growth, Dodge & Cox Stock, Putnam Equity Income, State Street Equity 500 Index Service
• Foreign Large-Cap Funds - AllianceBernstein International, American Funds EuroPacific Growth
• Mid-Cap Funds - Alger MidCap Growth Institutional, Ariel
• Moderate Allocation Funds - Dodge & Cox Balanced, George Putnam Fund of Boston
• Goldman Sachs High Yield, Morgan Stanley Institutional Small Growth
• Fund Picks and Allocation Targets