Seems each year investors try to chase the hot returns from the prior year. A list of the top mutual funds or stocks is published, and money goes plowing into the leaders, thinking they have the magic crystal ball that will bring in another banner year with 60% or 150% gains -- the stuff all investors dream about. But picking stocks, and picking them better than everyone else, is not an easy task, and not an easy task to repeat year after year. To tell the truth, many mutual fund managers get lucky certain years, running a Russia fund when the Russian market takes off. Of course 2 years later, they are just as unlucky when their fund takes a 70% dive. For example, let's take a look at the funds with the best results for the last 3 years, 1 year, and 3 months. (see below)
First comes T. Rowe Price Latin America (PRLAX), then BlackRock Latin America A (MDLTX), then Fidelity Latin America (FLATX), then BlackRock Latin America B (MBLTX), then Fidelity Advisor Latin America A (FLTAX), then Metzler/Payden European Emerging Markets (MPYMX), then Fidelity Advisor Latin America C (FLACX). See a pattern here? Latin American markets, namely in Mexico and Brazil, have outperformed all other sectors over the last 3 years - not because these funds are particularly good, but because Latin America has been doing well. The trick is knowing or guessing when Latin America will have a good few years, and then buying pretty much any fund that invests there. So it is important to remember that while intelligent fund management can have a big impact in results, the macro-economic factors are more often the determining factor when it comes to mutual fund success or failure.
Biggest Mutual Funds - Most Popular Mutual Funds Ticker Symbols
A lot of people have asked us for a list of the biggest mutual funds, the top 10 mutual funds -- the ones with the most assets (ie, people have parked the most money in these funds). The list changes a bit year by year, but this is the most current (in billions of dollars of assets), along with their ticker symbol if you want to research them further.
American Funds Grth Fund of Amer A (AGTHX) - $79 billion
Vanguard 500 Index (VFINX) - $71B
American Funds Invmt Co of Amer A (AIVSX) - $71B
Fidelity Contrafund (FCNTX) - $67B
American Funds Washington Mutual A (AWSHX) - $65B
Dodge & Cox Stock (DODGX) -- $64B
PIMCO Total Return Instl (PTTRX) - $59
American Funds Capital Inc Bldr A (CAIBX) -- $56B
American Funds Capital World G/I A (CWGIX) -- $55B
American Funds EuroPacific Gr A (AEPGX) -- $52B
Fidelity Magellan (FMAGX) - $45B
Vanguard 500 Index Adm (VFIAX) - $44B
Fidelity Diversified International (FDIVX) - $44B
Vanguard Institutional Index (VINIX) - $43
Mutual Fund Companies
There are a large number of companies that offer mutual funds open to everyday investors. Here is a list of most of the major mutual fund players.
AIM Investments
AllianceBernstein
American Century Investments
American Funds
BlackRock
Columbia
Credit Suisse
Delaware Investments
Dreyfus
Eaton Vance
Evergreen
Federated
Fidelity Investments
First American
Franklin Templeton Investments
Goldman Sachs
Hartford Mutual Funds
IXIS Advisor Funds
Janus
John Hancock
Lord Abbett
Merrill Lynch
MFS
Morgan Stanley
Munder
Neuberger Berman
Nicholas-Applegate
Northern Funds
Nuveen
Oakmark
OppenheimerFunds
Phoenix
PIMCO Funds
Pioneer
Prudential
Putnam
RiverSource
RS Funds
Schwab Funds
Scudder
Seligman
Smith Barney
State Street Master Funds
T. Rowe Price
Thornburg
TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds
UBS Global Asset Management
USAA
Van Kampen
Vanguard
A lot of new investors are afraid of sending money to companies they have never heard of -- in that case, stick with the big ones you are comfortable with. The biggest mutual fund companies are probably Fidelity, Vanguard, Janus, Franklin Funds, American Century, and T. Rowe Price. Personally, over the last 2 decades we've had plenty of experience with all those names, plus Schwab, Neuberger Berman, Oppenheimer, PIMCO, Smith Barney, American Century, Columbia Funds, and Franklin. A recent Morningstar report ranks the mutual fund companies on the performance of their domestic stock funds over the last 3 years, with the following results as best rankings - Dodge and Cox (they have only one fund, the closed Dodge and Cox Fund DODGX, but it has been a great performer), Davis Funds (NYVTX), Columbia, Janus, T Rowe Price, Vanguard, Franklin, Pioneer, DWS Scudder, American Funds, JP Morgan, AIM, MFS, Wells Fargo, Fidelity. Morningstar.com and Lipper are famous for their rankings of mutual funds, giving you an independent, unbiased source for helping you research and review the best mutual funds.
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