Morningstar Gives Mutual Funds Fiduciary Grades

Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research, recently introduced a Fiduciary Grade for mutual funds to help investors further research, identify, and compare fund managers and fund companies that do a good job, or a poor job, of aligning their interests with those of fund shareholders. Grade criteria include: Regulatory Issues, Board Quality, Manager Incentives, Fees, and Corporate Culture. For more details on the grading process, click here.

31 Aug 2004 by editor comments (0)

Best Mutual Funds Web Sites

Fidelity Investments, American Century and New York Life are best at supporting the needs of their online customers, according to DALBAR’s latest quarterly ranking of Mutual Fund Web sites. A number of sites made great strides in second quarter of 2004, the report noted, with sites offering more customized features. Click here for the details.

30 Aug 2004 by editor comments (0)

Emerging Markets and Exchange Traded Funds

Steve Hays, Reuters, London, makes a case (with some caveats) for emerging market equities in this article. He points to a positive overall economic outlook and low, and relatively low, price-to-earnings ratios. Citing some difficulties trading in these markets, he discusses exchange-traded funds (ETF), and notes that there are currently 23 ETFs covering emerging market stocks with five more coming this year.

27 Aug 2004 by editor comments (0)

The Un-Socially-Responsible Fund

The Vice Fund, which invests primarily in stocks of the alcohol, gaming, tobacco, and aerospace/defense industries returned 25.26% for the 12 months ending July 31, 2004. That's nearly twice the return of the the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (at 13.17%) over the same period. The no-load fund ranked 6th out of 676 total Multi-Cap Core funds, placing it in the top 1% based on total fund returns with Lipper Analytical Services. For more information, click here (pdf ).

26 Aug 2004 by editor comments (0)

Mutual Fund Tools

A new resource section has been added to the Best No-load Funds site. Mutual Fund Tools, located in column three below the Top Mutual Fund Searches section, currently includes: Top Performing Mutual Funds for the most recent three months, one, three, and five years from Morningstar via Yahoo Finance, Kiplinger's Fund Finder, and the SEC Mutual Fund Cost Calculator: A Tool for Comparing Mutual Funds.

25 Aug 2004 by editor comments (0)

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http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1093963755&archive=1108745041 click here.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1093875601&archive=1108745041 Click here for the details.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1093616137&archive=1108745041 this article. He points to a positive overall economic outlook and low, and relatively low, price-to-earnings ratios. Citing some difficulties trading in these markets, he discusses exchange-traded funds (ETF), and notes that there are currently 23 ETFs covering emerging market stocks with five more coming this year.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1093529591&archive=1108745041 click here (pdf ).
]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1093442362&archive=1108745041 http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1093358770&archive=1108745041 this article. On the stock side, he profiles four options: the iShares Dow Jones U.S. Total Market, iShares Russell 3000, Vanguard Total Stock Market Vipers, and iShares S&P 1500, and, on the bond side, one bond fund, the iShares Lehman Aggregate Bond Fund.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1093272042&archive=1108745041 this article from Lipper's parent company, Reuters. In another Reuters article, we learn that AMG data services reported that stock funds experienced their fourth straight week of investor redemptions, $2.2 million for the most recent week. You can get the details on sector breakdowns in the article here.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1093013609&archive=1108745041 this article. She mentions several no-load funds and provides links to Smartmoney's Asset Allocator Worksheet, and an in-depth article from last year by Dawn Smith, which covers lifecycle and target retirement funds, and highlights nearly two dozen no-load mutual funds in these categories.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1092925266&archive=1108745041 here.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1092837729&archive=1108745041 this article.

]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1092752418&archive=1108745041 this article.
]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1092679634&archive=1108745041 this article, profiling two more top-performing, no-load energy funds, both based in Denver, Colorado: the Invesco Energy Fund and the Icon Energy Fund. The author is local, James Paton, of the Rocky Mountain News, and he also includes a list of the Top 10 U.S. Stock Funds this year, from Lipper, which includes these two funds and eight more in other mutual fund sectors.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1092408408&archive=1108745041 this article, Clint Willis, Reuters' fund freelancer, interviewing James Grant, publisher of Grant's Interest Rate Observer newsletter, examines long-term trends in interest rate changes, and the perils of interest rate risk. He also spotlights two no-load bond funds with well-respected managers and relatively low expense ratios: the Dodge & Cox Income Fund and the Harbor Bond Fund.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1092319236&archive=1108745041 this article by Russ Wiles of the Arizona Republic, appearing in the Chicago Sun-Times. He covers a wide range of competitors: Sprinters, Weightlifters, Long-Distance Runners, and Decathletes, naming several no-load favorites in the process.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1092234941&archive=1108745041 this article from Forbes. And, he profiles two no-load funds in the energy sector he feels may be well positioned to capitalize: the Vanguard Energy Fund (VGENX), and the Fidelity Select Natural Gas Fund (FSNGX), and an exchange-traded fund, iShares S&P Global Energy (IXC).]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1092165542&archive=1108745041 this article by Jonathan Burton at CBS.MarketWatch.com. He cites Morningstar's Laura Lutton, who points out that the remaining open funds in the category have "significant-enough drawbacks that we don't think they belong on our Fund Analyst Picks list," apparently the first time that's happened at the well-known investment research firm.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1092029349&archive=1108745041 full article here.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1091821359&archive=1108745041 this Fool article. His findings may surprise you, and explain why he also spotlights the iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1091725168&archive=1108745041 this article for Reuters, and spotlights two no-load global funds: Oakmark Global Fund, Tweedy, Browne Global Value Fund.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1091627042&archive=1108745041 here.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1091543413&archive=1108745041 this MSN Money article. These funds track their benchmark indexes very closely, but lag in performance over time due to the drag of management fees. For those who feel they shouldn't have to pay these fees for index-level performance, he profiles a mid-cap fund that has been earning its fees and mentions some exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the indexes, but with lower expenses.]]> http://bestnoloadfunds.com/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1091458118&archive=1108745041 this article on BusinessWeek's Mutual Funds Scoreboard. She spotlights a half dozen newcomers to the A-List including several no-load funds. If you'd care to uncover some others of the 31 new funds on the list, you can check out the Scoreboard on your own here.]]>