Good Funds?

[Zeno]

I was discussing funds/financial matters with an old friend the other night and he e-mailed me the list below of funds he has researched. He recomends them as solid funds with good, long-term managers and track record. I was going to reseach some myself but would also like some second opinions. If anyone is familar with any of the funds and has anything good or bad to say about them please do so. Thanks. I may or may not invest in them, I am just window shopping right now.

Weitz Partners Value
Third Avenue Value
Clipper
Salomon Brothers Opportunity
Ariel Growth
Columbia Acorn
Cohen & Steers Realty Shares


-Zeno

[Ray Zee]

buy index funds and individual stocks. dont let a fund manager buy and sell away your profits so as to attract new investors by having hot stocks in the portfolio.
have a monkey throw darts as he only will charge a banana.

if you must by a fund it should only be a closed end one for a specific purpose and at a large discount to net asset value.

[Czech_Razor]

I agree with Mr. Zee, but if you're like me, you'd want to know why. If you haven't already (and are interested), read Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street (which also is quite fun), and Bogle's Common Sense on Mutual Funds (a little less fun, perhaps, but dead on).

gl,

Anthony

PS, if you want reviews of these (and a few other) books, go here (http://www.efficientfrontier.com/reading.htm).

[shutupndeal]

I hate funds myself and Im not one to give out stock tips and so even tho we have a few seats within my immediate family <not me tho> Im not big into the game and I only research stocks for fun. Its been a game of mine since I am a kid and right now if you guys like I say we pick a very small portfolio of say 2 stocks, all must be under 30 dollars american and you get 100 shares of each and we can see how we do in the coming quarter, 6 mos or year if you like?
If anyones interested in playing the game with me I will take my picks now. ALL picks wont go into effect until Jan 1st to give anyone who wants to take a shot time to get it together and currency is not alowed and of course you can change your stock at whatever opportunity that you would like BUT remember there is a commision on selling AND buying AFTER the first 3 stocks are set, those you get for free Ok? lol

I am going with
AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)
PDG (Placer Dome) Canadian gold mining outfit
SSL (Sasol Limited ADR)

There ya go wish me luck (all bad U hope right? ) /images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[squiffy]

I agree 100%. I like VANGUARD 500. But almost any S&P 500 fund is great if it has equally low fees and trading costs.

Once I started studying individual stock investing, I realized that investing in a managed fund is a catch 22. To figure out if it is a good fund, you need to figure out who the fund manager is, his track record, and what individual stocks he is currently investing in. ANd the fund may hold 50-100 stocks or more who knows. And they may be buying and selling all the time, churning out fees and expenses. They are going to have to be very very talented to make up those expenses and still beat the S&P 500.

If he makes 50% by investing in tech stocks at the height of the tech bubble, he may look like a successful fund manager, but that does not guarantee that his picks will continue to post such great returns in the future.

Though I suppose if you could identify a Peter Lynch and be confident that his success was due to talent, and not just luck, picking a Lynch managed mutual fund would be find.

The catch 22 is that picking a reliable and successful mutual fund manager and knowing to a sufficient degree of certainty that his record is based on talent, and not just luck, is just as hard, if not harder than picking a good individual stock.

Though if you were going to pick a managed fund I would try to find one run according to value investing principles.

[scalf]

/images/graemlins/smile.gif..musta been an oversight; as scalf astrology pix deliver outta this world results...gl

/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /images/graemlins/cool.gif /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

[Zeno]

Thanks to all for the advice and input. All good food for thought. I shall tread wisely - I hope.

-Zeno