Nov 30 2005
Pitfalls of All-ETF Portfolios
While he has admittedly "been a big fan of ETFs since their inception," Roger Nusbaum, a RealMoney.com Contributor, points out some of the pitfalls of overreliance on these popular investment products. He cites geographical gaps in exchange-traded funds' coverage, and warns of managed ETF products, such as Ameritrade's Amerivest program and the Fidelity ETF Portfolio Builder, which he feels "gives investors no forward-looking analysis, and that's a major negative." Nusbaum also finds that "Another drawback is that many of the products don't make use of all of the ETF families or products," in this three-page article from TheStreet.com.
Nov 29 2005
Personal finance reporter Susan Morris makes a case for investing in foreign and international funds (with a caution about currency swings) in this article from the Tribune-Review. Morris says, "In the past three years the performance of the average international stock fund has far exceeded that of the S&P 500 index," and notes that, "According to the Wall Street Journal, financial experts are predicting that foreign stocks will continue to show greater returns than domestic stocks."
Nov 28 2005
Past Mutual Fund Managers of the Year Reviewed
In anticipation of naming of the new Morningstar Manager of the Year awards for 2005, William Samuel Rocco, has been reviewing past winners, including past selected mutual fund managers of international-stock and fixed-income in this article from Morningstar via Yahoo Finance. "There have been 10 International-Stock Managers of the Year and 10 Fixed-Income Managers of the Year since we began giving out asset-class-specific awards in 1995," said Rocco, noting that, "Most of the 20 past winners have enjoyed significant post-award success."
Nov 21 2005
Fund Managers May Beat the Market, Sometimes
Mark Hulbert, editor of The Hulbert Financial Digest, reports on a new study which finds "substantial numbers [of mutual fund managers] can predictably outperform it [the market] during parts of the economic cycle," in this article from the New York Times. The study, by Doron Avramov and Russ Wermers, finance professors at the University of Maryland, is called "Investing in Mutual Funds When Returns Are Predictable,"and will soon be published in the Journal of Financial Economics. The authors based their research on the assumption that "that significant numbers of managers may have market-beating ability at some stages of the economic cycle but not at others," which led to a fund switching strategy.
Nov 18 2005
According to Standard & Poor's, the S&P MidCap 400 index has outperformed the S&P 500 (large-cap) and the SmallCap 600 indexes this year (through October), gaining 5.6%, compared to 1.1% and 3.1%, respectively. However, Richard Diennor, reflecting on "Insight from Standard & Poors," predicts that "the winning streak [for mid-cap stocks and mutual funds that invest in them] may soon come to an end," in this Fund Investor column from BusinessWeek Online. Diennor reports that "...a number of market watchers think investors will begin moving into big companies some time next year if interest rates and inflation rise and the U.S. economy slows. In that kind of environment, investors will prefer the stability and maturity that large businesses can offer, they say." For details, see the complete article.
Nov 17 2005
Funds Bidding Gold to New Highs
"The price of gold climbed to its highest in almost 18 years on Thursday, while platinum recovered after slipping more than 2 percent from its near-26-year peak on investment fund buying, dealers and analysts said," according to a Reuters article by Zach Howard and Atul Prakash. The authors note that, " Funds have been bidding gold higher on ideas that the metal was primed to soon challenge the psychological level of $500, which now stood less than $15 away." For details and expert views, click here for the complete article.
Nov 16 2005
"Mutual fund investors could be in for a nasty surprise come tax time," says Linda Stern of Reuters. She explains why this is an issue this year, and offers some ideas to help, including: "Do some math, sell other funds in which you have losing positions, be careful what you buy with the money you reap via selling, choose your future funds carefully, and ...consider using exchange-traded funds instead of traditional mutual funds." Details on these strategies and other background information can be found in the complete article at the Hearld Daily News.
Nov 15 2005
Russel Kinnel, Morningstar.com, provides background information and looks at the pros and cons of this niche style of growth investing, which was very popular in the 1990s, in this article from Yahoo Finance. He also profiles three "momentum shops" he and other Morningstar analysts recently visited, including Turner Investment Partners, Friess Associates, and Gardner Lewis. "Each is among the better members of the momentum club. They have some similarities, yet there are key distinctions that have led to big differences in performance," Kinnel explains, and details in the rest of the article.
Nov 14 2005
Socially Responsible Mutual Funds
Meg Richards, The Associated Press, reports that, "The realm of socially responsible investment funds is a niche that is still growing — in fact, at a faster pace than the mutual-fund world as a whole, according to Morningstar," in this article from seattletimes.com. She spotlights the "Calvert Group, which eliminates alcohol, tobacco, gambling and weapons companies, as well as firms with poor environmental and labor practices." Richards also points to two faith-based fund families "the Ave Maria Funds, which seek to incorporate Catholic values, and "New Covenant Funds, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, [which] avoids alcohol, tobacco, gambling and certain elements of defense."
Nov 11 2005
Ken Hoover, Investor's Business Daily, profiles Columbia Acorn Fund (ACRNX) in an article published at Yahoo Finance. Current fund manager, Frank McQuaid, who worked for legendary manager Ralph Wanger for 25 years prior to his retirement a couple of years ago, has stuck to the strategy that has brought long-term success to the fund. Hoover reports that "McQuaid says he's a growth-at-a-reasonable price, or GARP, investor. He'll buy a company growing at a double-digit rate if he can, but only if the price is right." And, he adds "The strategy has worked. The fund is up 9.11% year to date vs. 2.47% on average for small-cap growth funds tracked by Morningstar and 2.02% for the S&P 500. Its three-year annualized return is 25.40% against 18.62% for its peers and 12.82% for the S&P." Current fund holdings, strategies and other background information can be found in the complete article.
Nov 10 2005
Index Funds, Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)
Eleanor Laise, The Wall Street Journal, compares and contrasts index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETF) in this in-depth article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. She notes that, "In general, traditional index funds are best for people who make regular contributions to their account. That is because you must pay a commission to buy or sell an ETF, while index funds often cost nothing to trade. ETFs, by contrast, tend to be better for investors who want to make bets on narrow market segments, trade during the day, or use sophisticated trading strategies." Laise also provides a detailed guide covering costs, tax consequences, and performance.
Nov 09 2005
Meg Richards, AP Business Writer, makes a case for TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities) and TIPS mutual funds, as part of a diversified portfolio, in this article from Yahoo Finance. She explains how they work: "What TIPS bonds do is promise to compensate the investor for the true effects of inflation, after the fact. They do this by changing their values based on the Consumer Price Index -- the government's key inflation reading -- every six months. So if the CPI rises 5 percent, the price of a $1,000 TIPS bond would rise to $1,050. Investors also get interest payments above and beyond inflation..." Richards also spotlights three TIPS mutual funds: the Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities fund (VIPSX), the Fidelity Inflation-Protected Bond fund (FINPX), PIMCO Real Return TIPS fund (IRRAX), and an exchange-traded fund, the iShares Lehman TIPS Bond fund, (TIP).
Nov 08 2005
Some Advise Adding Metals to Portfolio
"As inflation fears grow, some advisers are steering their clients into precious or industrial metals as a way to add luster to portfolios," according to this piece from the Associated Press in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The article reports that "Barclays Global Investors, ...is planning to launch a new exchange-traded fund tracking silver called iShares Silver Trust, a cousin to two gold ETF funds already trading, and cites a Morningstar report from earlier this year that "listed American Century Global Gold and Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining among its favorite precious-metals funds." A related article by Dune Lawrence, Bloomberg News, published at the Washington Post, profiles the Ivy Asset Strategy Fund which turned "into the top performer in its category this year by loading up on mining companies."
Nov 07 2005
Russel Kinnel, from Morningstar.com, picks his "Five Best New Funds of 2005." His top choices were "based mainly on three things: management, strategy, and expenses," and include Vanguard Primecap Core (VPCCX), Champlain Small Company (CIPSX), Presidio Fund (PRSDX), Fidelity Strategic Real Return (FSRRX), and PIMCO Fundamental IndexPLUS Total Return (PXTIX). See Kinnel's complete fund profiles in this article via Yahoo Finance.
Nov 04 2005
Multicap Mutual Funds Outperform
Meg Richards, The Associated Press, makes the case for multicap mutual funds in this article from the News Tribune. Citing Lipper, she says "Multicap funds gained 13.97 percent over the past three years, compared with a 10.47 percent advance for large-cap funds... Five-year annualized returns, which include the post-bubble downturn, show a 3.07 percent drop for large-caps, but a more modest 0.51 percent decline for multicaps. The multicap edge is reflected over longer time frames, as well." Richards also spotlights three "Multicap Standouts," including two no-load funds, The Hodges Fund (HDPMX), and Muhlenkamp Fund (MUHLX), and the Legg Mason Opportunity Trust, with a maximum deferred sales load of 1.00% (LMOPX).
Nov 03 2005
"Strange" Year for Mutual Funds
Warren Boroson, a syndicated financial columnist, reviews 2005 year-to-date performance for nearly three dozen mutual funds in this article from the Daily Record. Noting that, "Vanguard Index 500... was up a mere 1 percent. Vanguard Total Stock Market... a scant 1.8 percent. Vanguard Total Bond Market has risen 0.9 percent," Boroson added that "It's been a strange year as far as mutual funds are concerned." He cites some winners in energy, gold and precious metals, utilities, real estate, foreign markets, and emerging markets, but also points to more than a dozen "funds you would have expected to acquit themselves with honor [that] haven't -- especially value funds."
Nov 02 2005
Hot Fund Managers' Signature Funds
Charles A. Jaffe, a senior columnist at MarketWatch, profiles manager David Winters, former chief investment officer for Franklin Resources' Mutual Series funds, who launched a new mutual fund of his own, the Wintergreen Fund last month. "From the time Winters started managing Mutual Discovery in February 2000 until he left in April, the fund earned a 9.5 percent annualized return, compared with an annualized loss of 0.7 percent for his average peer...," according to the article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Jaffe also recounts the startup histories of other hot fund managers who earlier launched their own funds with mixed results, including: Ryan Jacob, Garrett Van Wagoner, Tom Marsico, Elizabeth Bramwell and Donald Yacktman.
Nov 01 2005
Equity Markets Decline in October
The major market indices, and related mutual funds, declined in October despite two month-end trading days of sharp gains. For the month, the Nasdaq lost 1.4 percent, the Dow fell 1.2 percent, and the S&P 500 dropped by 1.8, according to this article from Mercury News Wire Services published at SiliconValley.com. "Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co., linked Monday's rally to a broad recovery from last week's lows and typical end-of-the-month trading as hedge funds and mutual funds try to boost returns. Basically we had market sentiment get a bit too one-sided,'' he said about recent down days on Wall Street, "Stocks were getting in place to rebound.''
More articles from BestNoLoadFunds.com:
December '05 | November '05 | October '05 | September '05 | August '05 | July '05
Mutual Fund Resources:
Mutual Fund Reference: