Washington Mutual Investors Fund, AWSHX, Refuses to Buy Certain Stocks. That’s the Point

Austin Smith

Fri, August 14, 2026 at 12:30 AM GMT+3 4 min read

Quick Read

AWSHX bars tobacco, alcohol, and gambling companies from its portfolio yet delivered a 17% one-year return and 239% gain over ten years.
KO and JPM exemplify qualifying holdings, with Coca-Cola's quarterly dividend tripling since 1999 and JPMorgan trading near 15 times earnings.
At 0.55% annually, AWSHX costs roughly 10 times more than an S&P 500 index fund, a gap that compounds meaningfully over decades.
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Most mutual funds will buy anything their strategy can justify. Washington Mutual Investors Fund (NASDAQ:AWSHX) will not. The fund operates under a set of eligibility rules that flatly disqualify certain companies from the portfolio, regardless of price, momentum, or story. That constraint is the entire point of the product.

Courtesy of Javier Simon via 24/7 Wall St.

Run by Capital Group as part of the American Funds family, AWSHX is a large-cap value fund built for investors who want blue-chip income without the parts of the market they find objectionable. The prospectus dated June 30, 2026 lists a net expense ratio of 0.55%, meaning $55 a year on a $10,000 balance. That is not cheap next to an S&P 500 index fund, but it is well below the typical actively managed equity fund.

The Eligibility Rules Behind the Portfolio

The fund's defining feature is its screening framework. Historically rooted in District of Columbia court-approved "prudent man" standards, the rules bar the fund from owning companies that derive meaningful revenue from categories such as tobacco, alcohol, and gambling. The screens also lean the portfolio toward companies with long records of paying dividends and investment-grade balance sheets. Morningstar has described the fund as prioritizing investment-grade firms, which is consistent with the way the eligibility rules push managers toward established, cash-generative businesses.

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The practical effect is a portfolio that skews toward mature dividend payers and away from speculative growth names, distillers, casino operators, and cigarette makers. Investors who want a Marlboro-free 401(k) sleeve without paying up for a boutique ESG fund get most of the way there with AWSHX.

What Passes the Screens

The names that clear the fund's filters read like a survey of American dividend royalty. JPMorgan Chase pays a $1.50 quarterly dividend and trades at roughly 15 times trailing earnings with a market cap near $970.7 billion. Coca-Cola, a beverage company that sells no alcohol, yields 2.41% and has grown its quarterly payout from $0.16 in 1999 to $0.53 in 2026.

Procter & Gamble is a household staples anchor yielding 2.93%, and Home Depot has paid a quarterly dividend for more than 100 consecutive quarters, most recently $2.33 per share. Even Microsoft, often labeled a growth stock, qualifies as a dividend payer: its quarterly payout rose to $0.91 in late 2025 from $0.83 earlier that year.

How the Constraint Has Performed

Refusing to own certain industries has not cost shareholders much lately. As of August 12, 2026, AWSHX was up 11.45% year to date and 17.03% over one year, with a five-year price return of 79.93% and a ten-year return of 238.95%. Those figures reflect price only, so dividend reinvestment would add to the totals.

The trade-off is real, though. A screened value portfolio will lag when the market rallies on the biggest growth names or on speculative small caps. Coca-Cola may pass the screens, but a distiller with a better balance sheet would not, and the fund cannot pivot into it. Investors should also understand that at 0.55% a year, AWSHX costs roughly ten times what a plain-vanilla S&P 500 index fund charges. Over decades, that gap compounds into real money.

Who Should Own It, Who Should Skip It

AWSHX suits investors who want an actively managed, dividend-oriented core equity holding and who prefer to avoid tobacco, alcohol, and gambling exposure without going to a specialty ESG product. Retirees drawing income and long-term 401(k) savers with a value tilt are the natural fits.

Investors who want the cheapest possible market exposure, who prize small-cap or international diversification, or who care only about total return without regard to sector composition have better options.

Funds Worth Comparing

Capital Group's other large-cap value staple: Similar in style but without the same eligibility screens, useful as a like-for-like comparison.
A cheaper actively managed dividend growth fund: Emphasizes companies with growing payouts at a lower expense ratio.
A low-cost dividend ETF alternative: Targets high-quality dividend payers through a rules-based screen.
An S&P 500 index fund: The unscreened, ultra-low-cost benchmark most active large-cap funds are measured against.