Opinions about Janus

[Limpfold]

I'm about to marry my american girlfriend and settle down in USA. She recently inherited a pretty big fund that has been run by Janus.
Thing is I'm pretty clueless about the american finance market and I fear my girlfriend is as clueless as me [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

I'd just be grateful for some input regarding Janus, are they a solid company one should feel safe to trust with your life savings?

[TN_POKER_MAN]

sure, provided the Janus investment fund that you are referring to is appropriate for your needs. If it is in just one, you'll probably want to split it up and diversify it a bit.

Janus has several different types of investments, some good - some not so good. Although they are most famous for growth stock investing, they've added a few different types of investments recently to help folks diversify their portfolios.

[Stock Whiz]

You should hire a CPA and a CFP as soon as possible. No one's life savings should be in 1 fund.

[Limpfold]

I phrased myself bad, she has the money split in different funds and also a stockportfolio.
I was just curious if Janus had a good reputation when it come to performance.

[GeorgeF]

consider reading 'random walk down wallstreet' -Malkeil and "The only money book you will ever need" - Andrew Tobias

If you don't know any better I suggest you start with vanguard.com or http://www.tiaacref.com/ as they are mutual companies owned by their customers and only sell funds with low expense ratios, specifically Index funds.

Janus I have nothing against or for. I suggest that you check out the expense ratio they charge. If it is higher than 1% you need to justify your decision. If you see so called 12b-1 expenses understand that they are a rebate to whoever sold you the mutal fund shares. Janus also is using the tactic of creating multiple funds targeting small classes of stocks, guaranteeing that something will have an excellent performance aat any given time.

The inheritence will allow you to avoid most cap gains taxes if you decide to switch.

BTW which funds are you invested in?

[Limpfold]

The bulk is in the Janus fund, then some in the risk-managed stock fund and Janus worldwide fund.

[GeorgeF]

Basically I think Janus charges expenses of 0.8%-1.0%. It is hard to tell as they seem to have different classes of shares, I could be wrong. If you went with vanguard you would pay 0.3% or less normally. These seem like smallish numbers but they are yearly over your life. 0.5%/yr x 40 yr = 20%.

Based on the graphs below, in the past, Janus has not demostrated an ability to outperform other investments with lower expense ratios, S&P500 Index or Vanguard Int'l. The future may turn out differently.
You may have to cut and past:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=JANS...=l&c=JRMSX,JAWWX,VTMGX,%5EGSPC

If you are talking money in the millions Janus might be able to accomodate on the expense ratio.

You might consider one of the vanguard asset allocation funds. In those funds vanguard puts your money in a collection of their funds that supposedly meets your needs. In particular I see no bond funds, which you might consider to diversify.

http://ww3.janus.com/Janus/Retail/FundsHomeEquityFund

[TN_POKER_MAN]

Open a brokerage account and transfer the Janus funds into the brokerage account. This will help you diversify the money with less headaches. If the account is at Janus, then you'll only be able to buy and sell Janus funds.

Janus typically does best in a bull market.

Schwab, Fidelity, E-trade, Ameritrade, etc. are all fine choices for somebody that is willing to do most of the legwork themselves. These firms should allow you to keep the Janus funds as well as diversify and buy different investments without opening an entirely new account.

Janus funds typically do best in bull markets. They have built their reputation on on being "growth stock" investors (although they've recently added some "value stock" and "bond" funds.)

You should diversify into some other asset classes, such as: small cap, mid cap, value, and perhaps bonds and/or cash.

[gvibes]

After losing my dad a lot of money, I have a strongly negative opinion of Janus. They seem to be hard core performance chasers.

[TN_POKER_MAN]

Janus does a fine job in the "growth-stock" investments. If you're looking for something else, I too would shop elsewhere.

The important thing is to know what you've got.