Information posted on the FDIC website brings the total of bank failures for 2010 to seven. On Friday, January 21, 2010, the FDIC shuttered four additional financial institutions including the Bank of Asheville in Asheville, NC, United Western Bank in Denver, CO, CommunitySouth Bank and Trust in Easley, SC, and Enterprise Banking Company in McDonough, [...]
In a report delivered to Congress on Friday, January 21, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a unified fiduciary standard be adopted by Financial Advisors and Broker-Dealers alike. The 208-page report takes an in-depth view of the retail investment industry and makes careful distinctions between the quality of care that retail investors receive [...]
With General Electric’s (GE) profit up 51%, it stands to reason that yet another feather has been added to the argument that this will be the year that large cap growth mutual funds enjoy tremendous returns. As a staple to many equity funds, GE’s results are more than just about how strong the company itself [...]
Money funds are not something normally discussed here, but the “cash equivalent” asset class certainly plays a substantial role in financial planning and portfolio construction. In fact, individual investors find that as their net worth and portfolio assets grow, so does the need for a solid money investment fund. Specifically, what investors seek is security [...]
In our recent post about the views of Phil Maisano, of Dreyfus Investments (an “average” mutual fund company that ranks in the low 30′s for market share among other investment fund companies based on assets under management), the third item on the “Dreyfus test” spoke to the large amount of cash that corporations seem to [...]
In a recent write-up published at Morningstar, Dreyfus Chief Investment Officer, Phil Maisano outlined five key areas that investors should keep an eye on for 2011. Not only does Mr. Maisano’s piece compliment our recent post on Where to Invest in 2011, but it highlights some of the strength behind the company’s actively managed equity [...]
Why Financial Planning? With so many terms and financial marketing out there, it is important to differentiate the concept of ‘Financial Planning’. Having a financial plan is much different than simply investing. Sound financial plans include the aspects of choosing investment vehicles, but also incorporate specific plans for depositing and withdrawing funds. This, frankly, is [...]
Back in November, we examine some of the holding similarities among top performing equity funds. One of those top holdings was International Business Machines, or IBM, where it appeared in the top holdings of four particular funds. Why this matters is that Bloomberg.com reported today that IBM is going to create what many see as [...]
Of all of the 39 equity funds that we have reviewed so far in 2010, there are some fairly interesting conclusions to be drawn. Now, these funds include domestic, international, emerging markets, dividend and small cap funds that we have reviewed. Overall, however, two overwhelming trends that we noticed are the following: 16 of 39 [...]
Admittedly, November has started off quite slow here at the Mutual Fund Site. But given some of the recent events that we have seen (historic mid-term elections, the news of more quantitative easing also known as QE2), it seems wise on our part to let the dust settle before we start stirring things up again. [...]
Without question, mutual funds need to be more transparent when it comes to the fees they charge. As it stands now, investors see what expense ratio is being charged on their funds but they have to dig fairly deep to find out what other fees, namely administrative fees, they are paying for through their investment [...]
Target Date Mutual Funds have recently taken on a lot of bad press. That terrible year, 2008, did not help; many people with 2010 target-dated funds saw big losses. Stories of postponed retirements, massive wealth loss, even broken financial dreams filled the press. We all read about them. And to be honest even we have [...]
Not too long ago, we suggested that the future of mutual funds would see a sharp increase in the demand for income funds. This demand will result in greater pressure for fund managers who will need to seek yields elsewhere since bond yields, as low as they have been and may remain in the near [...]
Just last week, we wrote about one emerging markets fund that took a pretty clear position in India over China. The fund in question was the Virtus Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund (HEMZX) which is a large cap growth fund that has fairly low risk and has provided below average returns for investors. But what intrigued [...]
As spooky as it may seem, odds are on my side that I know where you invested this summer. And statistically speaking, that means I know where you did not invest this past summer as well. First off, let’s take a look at where you most likely invested: bond funds, emerging markets funds and maybe [...]
