MFOHome About Commentary Discussions Funds The Best Resources Support Us!

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register

Categories

In this Discussion

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.

    Support MFO

  • Donate through PayPal

Barron’s Best Fund Families, 2025

yogibearbullyogibearbull
edited February 27 in Fund Discussions
Barron’s Best Fund Families, 2025

2025: #1-American Funds/Capital Group, #2-Fidelity, #3-Vanguard,…,#6-BlackRock, #7-State Street,…,#15-Nuveen/TIAA,…,#18-Pimco, #19-DFA, #20-T Rowe Price,…,23-Franklin Templeton, #24-SIT,…,#30-JP Morgan,…,#35-PGIM, #36-Invesco,…,#46-Manning & Napier.

5-Yrs: #1-SIT, #2-Fidelity, #3-Pimco, #4-DFA, #5-American Funds/Capital Group,…,#9-BlackRock,…,#11-Nuveen/TIAA,…,#15-JP Morgan,…,#17-T Rowe Price, #18-Vanguard,…,#22-Franklin Templeton,…,#30-Invesco,…,#35-PGIM, #36-State Street, #42-Russell.

Also provided are rankings for 10-Yr and within the categories (general equity, world equity, mixed asset, taxable bond, tax-deferred bond).

Index funds were excluded, but active and semi-active (factor) ETFs were included.

Various weights were used for overall scores including asset-weights.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/best-fund-families-087f63f1
MSN ( @Observant1) https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/barron-s-best-fund-families/ar-AA1X6ugu

Comments

  • Observant1
    edited February 27
    Firms must have three actively managed OEFs or ETFs in Lipper's general U.S. stock category
    and at least one fund in both the world equity and mixed-asset categories to be included in Barron's rankings.
    They must also offer at least two taxable bond funds and one national tax-exempt bond fund.
    Just 46 asset managers out of 795 in Lipper's database met Barron's criteria in 2025.
    Dodge & Cox and Janus Henderson are two prominent firms which were excluded
    because they do not offer funds in all the requisite categories.

    The focus of this Barron's article was 2025 fund performance.
    A one year period is an awfully short time to judge actively managed OEFs and ETFs.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/barron-s-best-fund-families/ar-AA1X6ugu



    Note: Tables from the original Barron's article are unfortunately excluded on MSN.
  • DrVenture
    edited 3:13PM
    How much does it really matter, if one can be invested with a number 20 fund family, and still buy the funds of the number 1 firm? And most of the other firms?

    Asking because I am actually interested in pro/con opinions on that, not to argue.
    I guess one con is paying certain commission fees, no matter how slight they may be on a larger purchase. What else?

    I do agree that 1-yr results are not particularly consequential. Funds that had INTL, PM or value exposure in 2025 tended to do better than those that did not. Contrafund, cited in the article, has had awesome performance for several years.
  • Observant1
    edited 4:34PM
    "How much does it really matter, if one can be invested with a number 20 fund family,
    and still buy the funds of the number 1 firm? And most of the other firms?"

    Are you referring to an investor who is a brokerage customer of a firm that also markets its own funds?
    There aren't many cons that come to mind in this scenario as long as the brokerage provides required
    features and services, offers access to a wide array of funds, and delivers decent customer service.
    Some brokerages (e.g., Vanguard, T. Rowe Price) provide additional benefits to customers who meet
    certain total investment thresholds in their company funds.
    For example, investors with $1 million to $5 million invested in Vanguard funds can make 25 trades
    in transaction-fee funds per calendar year for free.
  • DrVenture
    @Observant1 Yes, precisely what I meant.

    Is there a case to switch from Vanguard or TRP to Fidelity on the basis of "fund family ranking". Or just buy the Fidelity fund one desires, via brokerage services? Other than select brokerage commissions, which are minimal.





  • yogibearbullyogibearbull
    edited 5:07PM
    Media loves rankings - they are everywhere for everything.

    Barron's also publishes several annual rankings and the fund family rankings in the OP are among them.

    Being asset-weighted in categories evaluated, they reflect the asset tilts of the firms and aggregate fund family performances.

    True, 1-yr doesn't tell much, but 5-yr and 10-yr rankings are also provided.

    Movements within 1-yr rankings may be meaningful and are watched by industry. When new or small players show up in top categories, they are often grabbed by giants.

    Vanguard asset mix has changed significantly due to its expansion into ETFs that are mostly in equities. So, it has jumped around a lot: in 1-yr rankings:
    2021 #43, 2022 #21, 2023 #14, 2024 #37, 2025 #3, but #3 in 2025 is certainly notable.
    If these rankings included consumer experiences, then Vanguard won't be that high. Incidentally, that's captured in separate annual broker rankings.

    Bond house Pimco won't rank high, but if you need bonds, you cannot ignore Pimco.

    These rankings cover only active and semi-active family funds, not other funds accessible through their brokerage arms.

    https://ybbpersonalfinance.proboards.com/thread/252/barrons-best-fund-families
  • Observant1
    "Is there a case to switch from Vanguard or TRP to Fidelity on the basis of 'fund family ranking.'"

    I don't think there is a case to switch brokerages based solely on fund family rankings.
Sign In or Register to comment.