Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Mutual funds have helped introduce the masses to stocks and have played a big role in portfolios for individual investors. However, they appear to be well past prime time.
Agree with several of his points (loads & creep, for starters) but there are some features about mutual funds that I appreciate -- such as auto-investing in them w/o paying a commission each month, regulations governing use of leverage, and the fact they price once a day. However, the mutual fund industry does need to change, that's for sure.
I'm also somewhat uneasy about how ETFs are created/redeemed and wonder about how they'll perform during serious market or institutional stresses. ETFs may be great for traders (and are often marketed as offering that 'intraday flexibility and pricing') but I think there's still a place for low-cost 'stodgy' old mutual funds in a long-term investment portfolio.
What should people buy then? ETFs? Individual stocks? Hedge Funds? Why we bother reading such articles? You hire someone to do something for you when you don't have the time, but you have to spend just enough time to do due diligence. Car mechanic, plumber, hvac guy, mutual fund manager.
PS I personally think there might be more honest mutual fund mangers than plumbers, and also think all HVAC guys are crooks (other than anyone on this board). So some of us deserve bad mutual funds so other can be in good ones. if all mutual fund managers were good, the value managers would never buy anything and the growth managers would never sell anything, and then WTF would we do?
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I'm also somewhat uneasy about how ETFs are created/redeemed and wonder about how they'll perform during serious market or institutional stresses. ETFs may be great for traders (and are often marketed as offering that 'intraday flexibility and pricing') but I think there's still a place for low-cost 'stodgy' old mutual funds in a long-term investment portfolio.
Why we bother reading such articles?
You hire someone to do something for you when you don't have the time, but you have to spend just enough time to do due diligence. Car mechanic, plumber, hvac guy, mutual fund manager.
PS I personally think there might be more honest mutual fund mangers than plumbers, and also think all HVAC guys are crooks (other than anyone on this board). So some of us deserve bad mutual funds so other can be in good ones. if all mutual fund managers were good, the value managers would never buy anything and the growth managers would never sell anything, and then WTF would we do?