Specialty or sector funds aren’t famous for the diversification they provide, but the Eaton Vance Utilities Fund has found a way to avoid concentration. With a very broad view on what the utility sector is, the manager Judith A. Saryan also invests in telecom and renewable energy companies when the macro environment is favorable. A significant international exposure further reduces the sector risk and provides a larger investable universe.

Portfolio 21 is a global growth equity fund that seeks long-term capital growth. Employing a bottom-up approach to stock selection, portfolio manager Tony Tursich, along with the portfolio management team, focuses on companies that have positioned themselves to steer through the increased demand for diminishing natural resources, coupled with the deteriorating environmental situation.

For the managers of the AdvisorOne Amerigo Fund, it is much more important to be in the right part of the market than in the right security. Designed as a fund of funds that can be used as a core holding by advisors, the fund invests primarily in ETFs spread across multiple sectors, styles, and countries. Its risk budgeting strategy allows it to be well diversified and, at the same time, to take enough risk for bringing additional return.

Any bond is a potential candidate for the Summit High Yield Bond Fund, as long as it meets the selection criteria for the right price, asset coverage, free cash flow, and economics. The strategies employed by the high yield team include investing in upgrade candidates, special situations, or pure yield plays, with the idea of building a diversified portfolio with stable performance.

Rydex Sector Rotation Fund is built on the premise that industries that have performed well in the past will continue to perform well in the future. The management uses two measures of momentum - a 3-month and a 12-month look back on the industry performance. The fund ranks all of the 62 industries in its universe and is buying the top 10% in either measure of momentum.

Starting with the premise that Eastern Europe will continue to display faster growth rates than Western Europe in the convergence process, the Metzler/Payden European Emerging Markets Fund is set to benefit from this trend. While the fund manager, Markus Brück, believes that the greatest opportunities and efforts should be in the small-cap area, he also doesn’t ignore large caps in order to build a stable, diversified, and less risky portfolio.

Every investor tries to buy great businesses at attractive prices, but very few of them have a clearly defined way to do this. Larry Coats, and David Carr co-managers of Oak Value Fund, believe in valuing equities as businesses and in building a thorough understanding of the key drivers of each company in the portfolio. Restricted only by the firm’s investment principles and discipline, the Fund’s managers may invest even at unusual value places like technology.

Using the principles of value investing, the Matrix Advisors Value Fund aims at identifying better businesses in better industries across the entire economic spectrum, and at buying them below their intrinsic value. Investing in both dividend and non-dividend paying companies that are financially strong and meet specific valuation criteria, the portfolio manager David Katz seeks a total rate of return comprised of capital appreciation and current income.