Morningstar® Investment Profile™ | Disclosure Statement Morningstar - Free Trial   American Funds Growth Fund of Amer A  AGTHX   Snapshot Total Returns Rating & Risk Portfolio Nuts & Bolts Analyst Report Quote datadef_ratings American Funds Growth Fund of Amer A  AGTHX   Morningstar Report Overall Morningstar Rating™ What is this? As of 2009-10-31 Out of Large Growth Funds Rating derived from a weighted average of the fund's 3, 5, 10-year rating which are based on risk-adjusted performance. Morningstar® Style Box™ What is this?    Large    Growth       As of 2009-09-30 Day Change $ -0.04    NAV (2009-11-10) $ 26.84    YTD Return % (2009-11-10) 31.05%    Total Assets ($ mil) 145,177 View Data Definitions   Performance     Growth of $10,000 Fund: American Funds Growth Fund of Amer A (from 1999-01-01 to 2009-10-31) Category: Large Growth Index: S&P 500 TR Total Annualized Returns % 1yr, 3yr and 5yr Returns as of 2009-11-10 Inception date: 1973-11-30 10yr and Inception Returns as of 2009-10-31 YTD Returns as of 2009-11-10 YTD 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year Since Inception Fund 30.86 55.75 -3.73 3.04 3.17 13.98 +/- Category 6.71 40.40 1.22 2.05 4.63 --- +/- S&P 500 TR 7.34 6.95 2.17 2.36 --- --- Standardized Annual Returns %   more on standardized returns Quarter-End (as of 2009-09-30) 19.75 -7.93 -4.84 2.38 3.45 13.90 Month-End (as of 2009-10-31) 16.94 9.00 -6.74 1.49 2.56 13.79 After Tax Returns % (as of 2009-09-30 )   On Distribution --- 8.56 -7.48 0.92 1.74 --- On Distribution & Sale of Shares --- 5.79 -5.75 1.18 1.98 --- Morningstar Rating --- --- --- # of compared funds covered (3 yrs : out of 1518 funds), (5 yrs : out of 1251 funds), (10 yrs : out of 663 funds). Ratings are based on risk-adjusted performance. The maximum initial sales fee is 5.75%, the maximum deferred sales fee is none, and the maximum redemption sales fee is none. The performance quoted represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate thus an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted herein.   Portfolio Profile     Sector Breakdown % Information 31.31 Software 8.30 Hardware 11.51 Media 3.68 Telecommunications 7.81 Service 37.39 Healthcare 12.94 Consumer Services 5.93 Business Services 6.12 Financial Services 12.40 Manufacturing 31.30 Consumer Goods 8.12 Industrial Materials 11.76 Energy 10.48 Utilities 0.93 Asset Allocation % of Net Assets Cash 7.6 Stocks 88.9 Bonds 3.5 Other 0.0 Foreign Stocks 16.8 (as a % of Assets) Data through 2009-09-30 Data through 2009-09-30 Holding Status Total Number of Stock Holdings 285 Turnover % 38 Total Number of Bond Holdings 59 30 Day SEC Yield % 0.14 % of Assets in Top 10 Holdings 19.76 ending as of 2009-09-30 View Data Definitions Top 10 Holdings Sector P/E YTD Return % % of Net Assets Microsoft Corporation 10.42 55.04 3.49 Google, Inc. 23.09 85.26 3.06 Oracle Corporation 16.10 26.85 2.53 Apple, Inc. 15.85 134.24 2.04 Cisco Systems, Inc. 12.30 43.93 1.80 Bank of America Corporation 25.58 14.49 1.51 Coca-Cola Company 18.18 29.69 1.43 Philip Morris International Inc 13.11 18.11 1.32 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. 11.27 36.35 1.30 Medtronic, Inc. 16.10 28.00 1.28 Data through 2009-09-30 YTD Return through 2009-11-20   Other Information Fund Inception: 1973-11-30 Portfolio Manager  (Start Date) James E. Drasdo  (1985-11-01) Drasdo is a senior vice president, director, and portfolio manager with Capital Research and Management Company. He has been a investment professional for 35 years in total. Drasdo has been with the company for 29 years. James F. Rothenberg  (1988-11-01) Rothenberg is chairman of the board with Capital Research and Management Company. Rothenberg came to Capital Guardian Trust Company from Capital Research & Management in 1986. Rothenberg investment style is described as "bottom-up and research-driven". Rothenberg is a member of the Financial Analysts Federation and the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts. Gordon Crawford  (1991-11-01) Crawford is a senior vice President for Capital Research and Management Company with portfolio manager and research analyst responsibilities. Don D. O'Neal  (1993-11-01) O'Neal is a Senior Vice President of Capital Research. O'Neal has been an investment professional for more than 23 years. Michael T. Kerr  (1998-11-01) Kerr is a senior vice president of Capital World Investors. He has been employed with Capital Research or its affiliates for the last 22 years Donnalisa Barnum  (2001-11-01) Barnum is a senior vice president of Capital World Investors. She has been employed in the investment management area of Capital Research or its affiliates for the past 22 years, three of which she has been a portfolio counselor. J. Blair Frank  (2001-12-31) Frank is Senior Vice President of Capital Research and Management Company. He has been an investment professional for 16 years with 15 years at Capital Research and Management or affiliate. Gregg E. Ireland  (2004-11-01) Mr. Irelandis a portfolio manager with responsibilities in several funds managed by Capital Research and Management Company (CRMC), including the Investment Company of America. Having joined Capital in 1972, Mr. Ireland is a Senior Vice President of CRMC, as well as an officer of several funds managed by CRMC. He is Chair of the Leadership Board of Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, a national think-tank that studies issues facing young children and their families. Ronald B. Morrow  (2007-11-01) Morrow is a senior vice president of Capital World Investors. he has been employed in the investment management area of Capital Research or its affiliates for the past 11 years. Sales Charge % (taken from prospectus dated 2009-11-01) Front: 5.75 Deferred: None Expense Ratio % 0.75 based on net assets (taken from annual report dated 2009-08-31) Correspondence Information The Growth Fund of America, Inc. One Market, Steuart Tower, Suite 1800 San Francisco,  CA  94105-1409 USA Telephone: 800-421-0180 Data on this page does not include the fund's short positions (if any). Show Data Definitions © Copyright 2009 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. Morningstar, the Morningstar logo, Morningstar.com, Morningstar Tools are either trademark or service marks of Morningstar, Inc. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Returns will vary and shares may be worth more or less than their original cost when sold.