When you have been dealing with No Load Mutual funds as long as I have, there is bound to be a run-in with a fund manager regarding investment philosophy. This happened a couple of times over the past 2 years with the end result that my advisory firm was banned from placing trades with that particular fund family — forever, …
Mutual Fund Investing: You can’t Win ‘em All
The media was at it again analyzing the great fund performance record of fund manager’s Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Value Trust. They did it in all fairness (this time) by giving credit to his great 15-year performance, during which he prevailed over the S+P 500 every year. In fact, his fund showed an average annual rate of 15.8% vs. the …
ETFS 2006: From a 33% Loss to an 81% Gain
2006 was a year of extremes. In the ETF world, 2 funds ruled on the extreme end, one by superior performance, the other by a devastating loss. The clear winner was the China fund (FXI) with a yearly gain of about +81%. While the 1-year chart shows this fund as being in a solid uptrend, it doesn’t tell the entire …
Mutual Fund/ETF investing: Theory vs. Reality
Happy New Year! I still have some unfinished business from 2006. My preference is to pay attention to people who have actually done or experienced what they are writing about. It doesn’t matter if it’s a blog, an article, a book, or investments for that matter. To me, it increases credibility. This really hit home a few days ago when …