Annual Report - American Balanced Fund - American Funds

The American Funds AdvantageSince 1931, American Funds, part of Capital Group, has helpedinvestors pursue long-term investment success. Our consistentapproach — in combination with The Capital System SM — hasresulted in a superior long-term track record.Aligned withinvestor successWe base our decisions ona long-term perspective,which we believe alignsour goals with theinterests of our clients.Our portfolio managersaverage 27 years ofinvestment experience,including 22 years at ourcompany, reflecting acareer commitment to ourlong-term approach. 1The CapitalSystem SMOur investment process,The Capital System,combines individualaccountability withteam work. Each fund isdivided into portions thatare managed independentlyby investmentprofessionals with diversebackgrounds, ages andinvestment approaches.An extensive globalresearch effort is thebackbone of our system.Superior long-termtrack recordOur equity funds havebeaten their Lipper peerindexes in 91% of 10-yearperiods and 96% of20-year periods. Ourfixed-income funds havebeaten their Lipperindexes in 54% of 10-yearperiods and 57% of20-year periods. 2 Ourfund management feeshave been among thelowest in the industry. 31Portfolio manager experience as of December 31, 2014.2Based on Class A share results for rolling periods through December 31, 2014. Periods coveredare the shorter of the fund’s lifetime or since the comparable Lipper index inception date(except SMALLCAP World Fund, for which the Lipper average was used).3On average, our management fees were in the lowest quintile 70% of the time, based on the20-year period ended December 31, 2014, versus comparable Lipper categories, excludingfunds of funds.Printed on paper containing 10% post-consumer waste Printed with inks containing soy and/or vegetable oilLit. No. MFGEARX-011-0215P Litho in USA AGD/Q/8050-S42847