Mutual Funds

Mutual funds are necessary investments for investors both young and old. They provide essential diversification and can strengthen your returns over the long-term. But there are too many funds for any single investor to sift through. Luckily, our analysts give you the inside track on funds with the smallest minimal investments and funds that charge low fees, so you can maximize your performance.

Just Say No to China Mutual Funds

By Robert Hsu, InvestorPlace Contributor
Robert Hsu cites three reasons why mutual funds are not the most effective way to profit from China's growth.

Beware the Tax Trap of Year-End Distributions in Mutual Funds

By Chuck Epstein, Mutual Fund Writer
Mutual fund families save the bulk of their capital gains and dividend income payouts until the end of the year, making these payments to all shareholders of record as of a certain date, regardless of how long they have owned the fund. Shareholders are then responsible for paying taxes on those distributions.

Top Managed Futures can Diversify Holdings

By Chuck Epstein, Mutual Fund Writer
Several of the top performing managed futures funds for 2010.

Why a Mutual Fund’s Total Expenses Should Change its Ranking

By Chuck Epstein, Mutual Fund Writer
An analysis finds that a fund's rating can be misleading if expenses aren't included

No Surprise: Gold Funds Rank as 2010’s Top Performers

By Chuck Epstein, Mutual Fund Writer
Several gold funds have delivered solid returns through November but 2011 looks flat for investors

Vanguard Capital Value Mutual Fund Reopens

By Dan Wiener
The Vanguard Capital Value Mutual Fund (VCVLX) has reopened to new mutual fund and 401k investors.

Best Vanguard Mutual Funds for Your 401k

By Dan Wiener
Vanguard mutual funds are frequently featured in 401k investing plans, and here are the company's best offerings for your 401k.

4 Water Mutual Funds to Buy Now

By Chuck Epstein, Mutual Fund Writer
These mutual funds are a way to invest in the global water industry.

7 Deadly Sins of 401k Investing

By Jeff Reeves
Before you do any end-of-the-year housekeeping to your retirement portfolio, keep these costly 401k investing mistakes in mind.

Vanguard Cuts Mutual Fund Minimums

By ETFguide
The Vanguard Group has reduced the investment minimums for its share class called the “Signal Shares.” The previous requirement was $1 million to $5 million in assets depending on the client and account type.

Torturing the Numbers, Malkiel Shills for Indexing Again

By Dan Wiener
A recent Wall Street Journal Op-Ed by former Vanguard board member and economics professor Burton Malkiel on the virtues of buy-and-hold investing, "Buy and Hold" Is Still A Winner,was another in a series of veiled advertisements for index funds.

Fed’s Move Backfires as T-Notes Plunge

By Richard Band
Hardly had the Federal Reserve chief announced his newest "quantitative easing" program earlier this month when bond prices began to fall.

Compensation: Strange Bedfellows, Indeed

By Dan Wiener
It didn't take long for former Vanguard chairman Jack Brennan to land at least one lucrative gig after handing over the reins to Bill McNabb at the beginning of the year.

A New Start for a Struggling Stalwart

By Dan Wiener
After years and years of underperformance at Vanguard US Growth (VWUSX), as well as a veritable musical chairs of managers, AllianceBernstein was given the pink slip on Oct 7th.

Finding the Top Closed End Funds for Investment

By Chuck Epstein, Mutual Fund Writer
Closed end funds (CEFs) are similar to mutual funds, but they also present some unique features. First, they offer a limited number of shares, which makes them “closed” as opposed to the continuous offering of new shares in a traditional mutual fund.

Analyzing Your Bond Fund: What Will Happen When Rates Start to Increase

By InvestorPlace Staff
Bond fund investors have been on a pretty good ride. Using the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund (MUTF: VBMFX) as an indicator of what bond fund investors have earned, the fund reports one and three year total return rates of 7.96% and 7.36% respectively, through the end of the third quarter.

5 Mutual Funds to Play the Small Cap Surge

By Jim Woods, Editor-in-Chief, Successful Investing, Intelligence Report, Bullseye Stock Trader
Here then are five top-performing small cap mutual funds you can buy to take advantage of the small cap surge.

How Mutual Fund Overlap Alters Your Investment Strategy

By InvestorPlace Staff
If you're a typical buy-and-hold mutual fund investor, your investing strategy may have a significant downside -- and we're not just talking about performance.

Traditional Mutual Funds Versus Index Mutual Funds

By InvestorPlace Staff
Traditional mutual funds have come under heavy critical fire lately. This has given them an increasingly bad reputation due to their high fees and costs that eat away at overall returns.
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