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DON’T LET MUTUAL FUND NAMES FOOL YOU OUT OF YOUR RETIREMENT!
Mutual fund managers use fake fund names to part you from your money such that you cannot judge what a fund does by its name. Many funds have names that are outright misleading or even deceptive. In the late 1990’s, for instance, during the...
How To Invest Wisely And Make Your Money Grow
Wise investments of your spare funds can be a great way to grow
rich. These days, savings accounts offer very low interest and
it is a waste to allow your money to lie in them. Based on your
appetite for risk and your financial needs, you have...
Peter Scannell - Market Timing Whistle Blower
In March 2000, Peter Scannell had only a fundamental knowledge of how a mutual fund company worked. Despite this, he got a job at Putnam Investments' call center in Quincy , Massachusetts . Peter Scannell was only working there a short time when...
The danger of buying shares
The danger of buying shares
Bright Johnson
Shares are sold everywhere in the world. From New York to Japan, there are huge stock markets filled with people’s money.
Why do people buy shares? Of course, they want to make money. But do people...
Three Reasons to Start Derivatives Trading
If you are looking for a trading option outside of traditional stocks and bonds, derivatives trading may be a good option. Derivatives pay off over a period of time based on the performance of assets, interest rates, exchange rates, or indices. The...
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DON’T LET MUTUAL FUND NAMES FOOL YOU OUT OF YOUR RETIREMENT!
Mutual fund managers use fake fund names to part you from your money such that you cannot judge what a fund does by its name. Many funds have names that are outright misleading or even deceptive. In the late 1990’s, for instance, during the technology stock bubble, some portfolio managers took advantage of public’s desire to chase the latest fad by slapping “internet” in front of their fund names.
The chances of that happening now are possibly lower. As of July 2002, the SEC requires funds to have at least 80% of their assets in securities that their fund name implies, up from 65% previously. This new rule is forcing funds that called themselves something like the America’s Government Fund to either dispose of East Asian government debt if it exceeded 20% of fund assets, or to change the fund’s name.
Likewise for funds that call themselves an equity income fund but have 25% of assets in stocks that paid no dividends. More than five hundred funds have had to change their names because they failed the 80% rule. Invesco’s Blue
Associated Websites
Chip Growth fund, for example, is now called just growth fund, since 60% of its holdings are in technology stocks, and many of those can hardly be called blue chips these days.
The 80% rule still allows mutual funds to invest in just about anything up to 20% of holdings. Why don’t you just avoid the entire problem by buying shares of an indexed mutual fund when you only have a selection of mutual funds to select? For this reason I strongly recommend that if you can only buy mutual funds, as in the case of the 401(k), then restrict your purchases to indexed funds such as the Vanguard 500 (VFINX). The best you can do is to learn to select individual stocks in your Roth IRA or individual account.
About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Scott Brown, Ph.D., the Wallet Doctor, is a successful investor. Dr. Brown holds a Ph.D. in finance. The Wallet Doctor is sought after for investment advice and coaching. For more information visit Dr. Brown’s site at www.BonanzaBase.com or sign up for his investment tips at www.WalletDoctor.com
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