AAII

Customizing Your Mid-Cap Allocation With ETFs and Mutual Funds
August 2026 by Charles Rotblut, Sam Levine
An examination of the ETF and mutual fund options that can fill the mid-cap domestic equity portion of a portfolio.

Semiconductors Process Big Second-Quarter Gains
August 2026 by Charles Rotblut, Tudor Pop, Michael Rose
The top 25 and bottom 25 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds for the second quarter of 2026.

Customizing Your Fixed-Income Allocation With ETFs and Mutual Funds
June 2026 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Selecting bond ETFs and mutual funds with varying levels of category risk, duration and yield can help align your portfolio with changing investing goals.

Energy and Commodities Dominate in First-Quarter 2026
May 2026 by Cynthia McLaughlin
The top 25 and bottom 25 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds for the first quarter of 2026.

Tapping Into Natural Resources With ETFs and Mutual Funds
April 2026 by Cynthia McLaughlin
ETFs and mutual funds in the natural resources sector, especially those that focus on rare metals and elements, require special considerations.

Customizing Your Large-Cap Allocation With ETFs and Mutual Funds
March 2026 by Cynthia McLaughlin
An examination of the ETF and mutual fund options that can fill the large-cap domestic equity portion of a portfolio.

2026 Top Mutual Funds Guide: The 2025 Performance of the 50 Most Widely Held Mutual Funds
February 2026 by AAII Staff
The first $2 trillion mutual fund.

2026 Top Mutual Funds Guide: The 50 Best-Performing Mutual Funds of 2025
February 2026 by AAII Staff
A noticeable change occurred among the top-performing mutual funds in 2025.

2026 Top Mutual Funds Guide: The 50 Worst-Performing Mutual Funds of 2025
February 2026 by AAII Staff
Muni, mid-cap and small-cap funds among worst performers.

The Individual Investor’s Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2026
February 2026 by AAII Staff
Precious metals and foreign stock funds realized the highest returns last year; plus, mutual funds moved closer to launching ETF share classes.

The Great Migration: What’s Behind ETF Asset Growth
January 2026 by Cynthia McLaughlin
A growing number of asset managers are converting traditional mutual funds into ETFs or preparing to offer ETFs as a mutual fund share class.

Precious Metals Join Digital Assets on Top in Third-Quarter 2025
November 2025 by Cynthia McLaughlin
The top 25 and bottom 25 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds for the third quarter of 2025.

What Fund Distributions Mean for Your Portfolio
October 2025 by Cynthia McLaughlin
While you have no control over fund distributions, there are steps that can be taken to minimize their impact.

Do Low Volatility Funds Offer Smoother Rides Through Rough Markets?
September 2025 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Low volatility funds aim to reduce risk and deliver stronger results during market downturns or periods of slowing economic growth.

How a Fidelity Fund Manager Blends Growth With Income
August 2025 by Cynthia McLaughlin, Matt Fruhan
Why earnings growth, yield and valuation are the critical components of stock performance.

Top Funds in Second-Quarter 2025 Led by Digital Assets and Technology
August 2025 by Cynthia McLaughlin
The top 25 and bottom 25 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETF) for the second quarter of 2025.

Supercharge Your Portfolio With a Nontraditional Index Fund
July 2025 by Paul Merriman
The payoff of a custom index approach that takes advantage of academic research can be substantial.

Are You Fully Covered? Not If Your Portfolio Is Wearing Buffer ETFs and Mutual Funds
June 2025 by Cynthia McLaughlin
These nontraditional equity funds use options contracts to offer downside protection, but potential gains are limited.

Gold and Precious Metal Funds Are First-Quarter 2025 Winners
May 2025 by Cynthia McLaughlin
The top 25 and bottom 25 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the first quarter of 2025.

Building Bond Ladders With Mutual Funds and ETFs
April 2025 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Quasi-bond ladders can be created with mutual funds or ETFs instead of individual bonds by choosing funds with differing durations.

The Individual Investor's Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2025
February 2025 by AAII Staff
Investors were rewarded with gains from most categories in 2024, with growth and technology funds realizing the biggest returns.

Where to Find the Best Yields in Active Bond Mutual Funds and ETFs
January 2025 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Active bond mutual funds and ETFs can be an effective part of an investor’s fixed-income toolkit.

China and Precious Metal Funds on Top in Third-Quarter 2024
November 2024 by Cynthia McLaughlin
The top 25 and bottom 25 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the third quarter of 2024.

Meeting Your Asset Allocation Needs With Schwab Funds and ETFs
November 2024 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Charles Schwab offers funds that could make suitable options for AAII’s Asset Allocation Models.

Should You Consider a Weighting in Gold?
November 2024 by Thomas Winmill, Cynthia McLaughlin
Ideally, a gold allocation should change based on where gold equities are in the valuation cycle.

The Truth About High-Yield Mutual Funds and ETFs
September 2024 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Some high-yield equity funds use derivative income or covered calls to produce extra income. See how these riskier funds compare to high-yield equity funds that use conventional strategies.

Gabelli's Insights on Value Investing Today
August 2024 by Charles Rotblut, Cynthia McLaughlin, Mario J. Gabelli
Tips from a master on how to stay current with your investing strategies as the market evolves.

Semiconductor and Shipping Funds on Top in Second-Quarter 2024
August 2024 by Cynthia McLaughlin
The top 25 and bottom 25 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETF) for the second quarter of 2024.

Minimizing Index Rebalancing Costs in Passive Funds Can Improve Returns
July 2024 by Omar Beirat
Strategic approaches to rebalancing can minimize passive funds’ trading costs, which are usually passed on to investors.

Understanding and Evaluating Digital-Asset Mutual Funds and ETFs
July 2024 by Cynthia McLaughlin
ETFs, and mutual funds to a limited extent, pave the way for individual investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrency and other securities in the digital-asset ecosystem.

Active Strategies That Have Fared Well Among Mutual Funds and ETFs
June 2024 by Cynthia McLaughlin
When evaluating active strategies, consider manager tenure, differentiated strategies and segments with less competition for active managers.

Growth and Digital Assets Stood Tall in First-Quarter 2024
May 2024 by Cynthia McLaughlin
The top 25 and bottom 25 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETF) for the first quarter of 2024.

What Vanguard Looks for in Innovative Global Growth Stocks
May 2024 by Charles Rotblut, Cynthia McLaughlin, Michael Masdea
Using a bottom-up approach to pinpoint companies set to be much bigger in five to 10 years.

The Individual Investor's Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2024
February 2024 by AAII Staff
While technology took eight of the top 10 spots on the list of 2023’s best mutual funds, 35 of the 50 top performers were large-cap growth funds.

An Improved Way to Find Mutual Funds and ETFs
January 2024 by Charles Rotblut, Cynthia McLaughlin
AAII’s mutual fund and ETF guides and screeners got an enhanced and more user-friendly interface. Plus, screeners have more flexibility when choosing filters and saving screens.

Decoding Tech Funds and ETFs to Make the Best Choice
January 2024 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Technology mutual funds and ETFs are highly thematic and come in many flavors. In addition, what counts as “technology” varies by fund.

Different 12b-1 Fees Among a Fund's Share Classes Create a Conflict of Interest
December 2023 by Eunice Kim
When a fund has a range of share classes with different 12b-1 fees, an incentive exists for distributors to steer investors to the class with the higher fee.

Tax-Savvy Strategies for Your Stocks, Mutual Funds and ETFs
December 2023 by Charles Rotblut
Savvy steps to avoid or limit the tax impact of security events, and tools on AAII.com you can use to help manage them.

Actively Managed Funds Gain on Passive Funds Over the Last Year
November 2023 by Grace Malone
Fifty-seven percent of actively managed funds beat their average passive peers over the 12-month period through June 2023, their highest success rate in years.

Changing of the Guard: Energy Powers Third-Quarter Returns
November 2023 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Fifteen of the top 25 ETFs for the third quarter of 2023 are focused on energy, and 10 of the top mutual funds.

Comparing the Tax-Efficiency of High-Yielding Funds and ETFs
October 2023 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Some mutual funds and ETFs distribute potential tax headaches along with income to shareholders, while others are more tax efficient.

Tech and Global Action Drive Second-Quarter Returns
August 2023 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Investors breathed a sigh of relief as equity mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) landed in positive territory for the third consecutive quarter.

Comparing and Contrasting Real Estate Funds
June 2023 by Cynthia McLaughlin
Mutual funds and ETFs provide a low-cost entry point to real estate and allow investment in a variety of real estate markets.

Growth and Technology Mutual Funds and ETFs Exert Muscle in First Quarter
May 2023 by Cynthia McLaughlin
The first quarter of 2023 arguably left investors with whiplash, from March’s banking havoc to vast changes in expectations about the Federal Reserve’s next policy moves.

High-Yield Mutual Funds and ETFs: Greater Potential Return but More Risk
April 2023 by Cynthia McLaughlin
The crucial risk and return figures to examine when considering high-yield bond funds or ETFs.

Key Criteria to Base Your Mutual Fund Sell Rules On
April 2023 by Matt Markowski
Learning about the main concepts governing when to sell funds from your portfolio can help you set up a disciplined process.

The Individual Investor's Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2023
February 2023 by AAII Staff
Out of the more than 50 mutual fund categories covered in this year’s guide, just three realized positive returns last year.

How Target-Date Funds Work
January 2023 by Jack Gilleland
Understand what you’re investing in and how it fits into your retirement plan when choosing a target-date fund, as variations abound.

Is Your Mutual Fund Tax-Efficient?
September 2022 by Wayne A. Thorp
Minimizing the taxable distributions of a mutual fund can boost investors’ aftertax returns.

The Benefits and Risks of Short-Term Bond Funds
July 2022 by Matthew Bajkowski
Short-term bonds can act as a buffer against volatility, preserving capital, and as such can be buckets to dip into when you want to buy riskier assets at a discount during down markets.

The Benefits and Risks of International Stock Funds
April 2022 by Matthew Bajkowski
International stock funds have the potential to offer greater capital appreciation than domestic stock funds. However, that increased potential comes with greater risk.

The Benefits and Risks of Intermediate Bond Funds
March 2022 by Matthew Bajkowski
Intermediate-term bonds are less sensitive to interest rate changes than long-term bonds and typically provide a greater yield than short-term bonds.

The Individual Investor’s Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2022
February 2022 by AAII Staff
Most mutual fund categories delivered positive returns last year—with energy, real estate, energy master limited partnership and financial coming out on top.

The Benefits and Risks of Small-Cap Funds
January 2022 by Matthew Bajkowski
Because small caps make up only one part of a diversified approach to asset allocation, consider your tolerance for risk when deciding how much exposure to them you want.

Good Portfolio Teammates Boost Returns and Reduce Downside
October 2021 by Craig Israelsen
A look at the positive results that could be achieved by partnering a balanced fund with a low-correlated fund.

Mid-Cap Funds Showing Strong & Consistent Relative Performance
October 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
This month’s Mutual Fund First Cut seeks domestic mid-cap stock mutual funds that have performed well within their category and against their peers over the last five years.

Small-Cap Funds Showing Strong & Consistent Relative Performance
September 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
This month’s Mutual Fund First Cut seeks domestic small-cap stock funds that have performed well compared to their peers over the last five years.

Gains Abound for No-Load Funds in Second Quarter
August 2021 by Jack Gilleland
Double-digit percentage returns were realized by domestic, sector and international stock funds in the second quarter of 2021.

Hottest Sector Mutual Funds
August 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
Looking at one-month returns for sector mutual funds gives a picture of what’s happening in the markets currently and which funds are performing better than their peers.

Online Exclusive: Mutual Funds vs. ETFs—What Makes Them Different?
August 2021 by Matthew Bajkowski
These two categories of professionally managed funds differ in important ways that should be taken into consideration before settling on an investment.

What Happens When a Fund's Management Changes
August 2021 by Wayne A. Thorp
You shouldn’t immediately switch from a fund when it changes manager(s), but you should pay closer attention to investment style, portfolio turnover, fees and performance after a change.

Guidelines for Selecting Mutual Funds and ETFs
July 2021 by Charles Rotblut
PRISM leads you to consider funds appropriate for you and what you are trying to achieve.

Lower-Risk, Higher-Yielding Equity Mutual Funds
July 2021 by Charles Rotblut
Striking a balance between a bigger stream of portfolio income and avoiding a higher chance of losing principal, this month’s Mutual Fund First Cut looks at two characteristics: the category risk index and the yield.

Large-Cap Growth Funds Performing Well Compared to Peers
June 2021 by John Bajkowski
Since domestic large-cap is a core allocation segment and growth has shone over the decade, this month's Funds First Cut seeks out domestic large-cap growth stock funds that have consistently performed well compared to the average fund in this category.

Funds Show Vigor in the First Quarter as Vaccinations Rise
May 2021 by Will Pfeffer
Returns for many mutual funds were healthy during the first quarter of 2021, and the winners won big.

Key Considerations When Choosing a Target-Date Fund
May 2021 by Charles Rotblut
Target-date funds are designed to allow you to choose one with the year closest to your expected retirement date. However, there are reasons why you may want to opt for a shorter- or longer-dated fund.

Large-Cap Value Funds With Consistent Strong Performance
May 2021 by John Bajkowski
Domestic large-cap stocks are a core segment for most investors, and value approaches have come back in favor recently. To narrow down the list, this month’s Mutual Fund First Cut focuses on those that have performed the best within their peer group over the last five years.

The Individual Investor’s Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2021
February 2021 by AAII Staff
The ongoing trend of investors pulling money out of equity funds continued during 2020. However, both equity and bond funds saw their total assets grow last year.

Which Funds Fit Your Needs? Here’s How to Decide
February 2021 by Charles Rotblut
Simple guidelines to follow, plus AAII tools and resources at your disposal that make finding the right ETFs or mutual funds for you a cinch.

Outperform Target-Date Funds By Replicating Their Portfolios
January 2021 by AAII Staff
A study found that portfolios of ETFs created to match a target-date fund can offer average higher returns for lower costs.

Sustainability Ratings Tank Fund Performance
January 2021 by Anine Sus
Attempts by mutual funds to improve their Morningstar sustainability ratings in order to attract more investor dollars led to lower performance ratings.

Tap Into Tax-Related Information on Stocks and Funds
December 2020 by Charles Rotblut
Where on AAII.com to get the data you need to understand the tax implications of your investments for the current tax year.

A Broader Mix of Fund Winners and Losers
November 2020 by Will Pfeffer
The third quarter of 2020 saw less extreme returns for no-load mutual funds. While returns were generally positive, there was a mix of winners and losers.

Mid-Caps Outperformed Large Stocks Thanks to Active Fund Ownership
November 2020 by AAII Staff
Stocks that were moved from the large-cap S&P 500 index to the S&P MidCap 400 index outperformed those that were moved from the S&P MidCap 400 to the S&P 500.

Seeking Higher Yields in Short-Term Bond Funds
November 2020 by Charles Rotblut
Screening for short-term bond mutual funds to find sources of higher yields in the record low-interest-rate environment.

Understanding Mutual Fund Fees and Expenses
November 2020 by John Bajkowski
While it is natural to focus on the performance track record when selecting a fund, expenses and fees can have a dramatic impact on your realized rate of return.

Comparing Funds That Track the Same Index
October 2020 by Wayne A. Thorp
Although index mutual funds and ETFs seek to mimic the composition and performance of an index, they are usually not exact copies of the index itself.

Emerging Markets Mutual Fund Winners
October 2020 by Charles Rotblut
The list of no-load emerging market funds that have outperformed their peers over the past one- and three-year periods is short.

Fund Openings and Closings: Why They Happen and Why They Matter
September 2020 by Wayne A. Thorp
Closing to investors is one way for a mutual fund to slow the inflow of money that the fund managers must invest. Members can check on fund closings and reopenings easily at AAII.com.

The Lowest-Cost Domestic Equity Mutual Funds
September 2020 by Charles Rotblut
Low expense ratios provide a performance advantage by allowing more of shareholders’ money to stay invested and thereby grow.

Strong Motions in Quarter-to-Quarter Fund Performance
August 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
None of the funds featured as top and bottom performers for the second quarter recorded negative returns; whereas in the first quarter, the only funds with positive returns were bond funds.

Top Considerations When Comparing Funds
June 2020 by John Bajkowski
How to conduct a head-to-head comparison of two mutual funds, taking into consideration the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Coronavirus Effect on Global Economy Felt by Funds
May 2020 by Matthew Bajkowski
The first quarter of 2020 for mutual funds captured the transition into a bear market and a recession in a short period of time due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Robos Up Investors' Holdings in Bonds and Index Funds
May 2020 by AAII Staff
Switching to a robo-adviser tends to result in a reduction of portfolio holdings in money market funds, individual stocks and U.S. and international active mutual funds in favor of bond holdings and low-cost index mutual funds.

Making the Most of Target-Date Funds Before and During Retirement
April 2020 by Chris Pedersen
Combining an equity fund with a target-date fund can help capitalize on low drawdown risk years.

A Simple Method for Comparing Mutual Funds
February 2020 by AAII Staff
Rather than looking at returns for the most recent year, consider a variety of factors when attempting to choose between two or more funds. This kind of comparison can simplify your choice.

How to Choose a Mutual Fund
February 2020 by Charles Rotblut
When selecting a fund, focus on whether a fund meets your current needs or is capable of meeting your future needs.

The Individual Investor’s Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2020
February 2020 by AAII Staff
Performance data is updated monthly and grades are now given for mutual funds, plus other enhancements to our annual guide.

Tools for Mutual Fund Investors
February 2020 by Wayne A. Thorp
AAII.com has been undergoing enhancements and reorganization over the last several months and in the process we have been expanding the investment discovery, analysis and tracking resources for all members.

The Best- and Worst-Performing No-Load Mutual Funds
October 2019 by Charles Rotblut
Our first Mutual Fund First Cut identifies the 10 best-performing and 10 worst-performing domestic no-load equity mutual funds.

A Fresh Look at Defined-Maturity Bond Funds
September 2019 by Charles Rotblut
Defined-maturity funds seek to strike a middle ground between bonds and bond funds: They mature on a specified date and return capital to shareholders, but they are also professionally managed and benefit from economies of scale.

Investing in Response to Climate Change
June 2019 by David Snowball
Screening for socially conscious mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that have a sustainability focus.

The Sell Decision With Mutual Funds: Knowing When to Walk Away
May 2019 by Albert J. Fredman
There are good reasons for selling a mutual fund, and times when should you stay put.

The Top Mutual Funds Often Don’t Continue to Outperform
March 2019 by Charles Rotblut
Analysis of mutual funds with the best five-year performance suggests the existence of some sustained momentum, but not consistently.

The Individual Investor’s Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2019
February 2019 by AAII Staff
Our annual mutual fund guide provides information and performance statistics on 727 funds.

Tactical Asset Allocation With Portfolio Visualizer
July 2018 by Al Zmyslowski
Three tactical asset allocation strategies are illustrated using the Portfolio Visualizer online analyzer tool.

The Top Mutual Funds Over Five Years: Tech Takeover
March 2018 by Jaclyn N. McClellan
Technology funds lead this year’s list of the top funds, though two non-sector funds are also on the top-10 list.

The Impact of Expense Ratios on Retirement Income
September 2017 by Craig Israelsen
Simply lowering investment expenses on a $1 million portfolio by 0.01% boosts annual portfolio income by more than $200 per year.

The Top Mutual Funds Over Five Years: Health Care’s Dominance Is Weakening
March 2017 by Jaclyn N. McClellan
Four of the 10-best performing funds are from the health care category, but this number is down from seven last year.

Tracking the S&P 500 With Mutual Funds and ETFs
March 2017 by Charles Rotblut
More than 40 funds explicitly include “S&P 500” in their name, but expenses and strategies differ among them.

The Individual Investor’s Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2017
February 2017 by AAII Staff
The online version of our annual mutual fund guide has all new features, including reports for each fund.

A Second Look at How Target Date Funds Change Their Allocations
June 2016 by Charles Rotblut
These funds, designed to help investors save for retirement, mostly become more conservative with time, but one has turned more aggressive.

The Top Mutual Funds Over Five Years: Health Care Remains on Top
March 2016 by Jaclyn N. McClellan
Health care has not only remained the best-performing category, it now boasts seven of the 10 funds with the highest five-year returns.

The Individual Investor’s Guide to the Top Mutual Funds 2016
February 2016 by AAII Staff
Our annual mutual fund guide provides information and performance statistics on more than 730 funds.

Fund Manager Skill Improves as Market-Cap Size Drops
July 2015 by
Investors may find more positive skill among mid-cap and small-cap mutual fund managers than among large-cap managers as an inverse relationship between skill and market capitalization exists.

How to Measure the Skills of Your Fund Manager
April 2015 by Yakov Amihud, Ruslan Goyenko
The statistical measure R-squared can reveal whether a fund manager is a closet indexer or is truly following a strategy different than the benchmark index.

The Top Mutual Funds Over Five Years: Health Care’s Vitals Look Good
March 2015 by Charles Rotblut, Jaclyn N. McClellan
Four health care funds topped the rankings, helping to make the category the best performer over the past five years.

Selecting Active Equity Mutual Funds: Don't Get Caught in the Middle
November 2014 by Thomas Howard
Mutual funds with market-beating performance tend to be highly active, hold relatively fewer stocks and are of smaller size.

Common Investor Mistakes and Other Investing Insights
July 2014 by Charles Rotblut, John C. Bogle
In the second part of our interview with John Bogle, he discusses how investors commonly put too much emphasis on past performance. Plus, he offers his views on high-frequency trading.

Achieving Greater Long-Term Wealth Through Index Funds
June 2014 by Charles Rotblut, John C. Bogle
Index investors, in aggregate, are likely to realize higher returns because of lower costs and the effect of reversion to the mean on active strategies.

Qualitative Guidelines for Mutual Fund Selection
June 2014 by John Deysher, Michael Walters
Looking at the type and frequency of communications, portfolio holdings, manager stability and expense ratio caps can help with the fund selection process.

The Mutual Fund Cash Dilemma
May 2014 by John Deysher, Michael Walters
While most mutual fund managers are required to stay invested, some have the flexibility to raise their cash allocations, raising an allocation dilemma for shareholders.

The Top Mutual Funds Over Five Years: Credit the Bull and the Calendar
March 2014 by Charles Rotblut
Domestic stock and sector funds lead the top performers as a bull market and a calendar shift boosted their five-year returns.

Analyzing Mutual Funds: Creating Fund Screens
July 2013 by Joe Lan
What you need to know to build effective screens for locating mutual funds that fit your criteria.

The Top Mutual Fund Screening Services
July 2013 by Joe Lan
An in-depth look at the best programs and websites for filtering a universe of mutual funds down to a manageable list.

Money Funds and the Regulators
June 2013 by Mike Krasner
Following the 2008 financial crisis, there has been debate about how much regulatory change is needed, including whether floating net asset values should be required.

The Top Mutual Funds Over Five Years: The Bear’s Claw Marks Remain
March 2013 by Charles Rotblut
The losses of the last bear market were so severe, they continue to impact the five-year annualized rates of returns for stock funds.

Target Date Funds: A Simple Premise, but Underlying Complexities
October 2012 by Charles Rotblut
Target date funds offer a single, diversified portfolio that grows more conservative over time, but the simplicity of their pitch masks underlying complexities.

The Top Funds Over Five Years: Bond Funds Take the Lead
March 2012 by Charles Rotblut
Out of the 10 top-ranking mutual fund categories, nine are in the bond arena, thanks to falling interest rates and weak five-year returns for stocks.

The Top Mutual Fund Screening Services
July 2011 by Joe Lan
An in-depth looks at the best software and websites for screening the universe of mutual funds.

The Truth About Top-Performing Mutual Fund Managers
July 2011 by Aaron S. Reynolds
Top-performing mutual fund managers will likely underperform their benchmarks at some point, but investors are usually rewarded for sticking with them.

The Top Funds Over Five Years: Gold, Emerging Markets & Diversification Lead
March 2011 by Charles Rotblut
Gold and emerging market stock funds continued to deliver the best returns, though many bond categories also ranked high.

The Top Funds Over Five Years: Finding Common Themes in a Volatile Market
March 2010 by Charles Rotblut
Our annual review of the mutual funds with the highest performance over the past five years shows that diversification worked. See which funds led their categories and which five funds delivered the highest returns overall.

The Individual Investor's Guide to The Top Mutual Funds 2010
February 2010 by AAII Staff
Our annual mutual fund guide provides information and performance statistics on more than 700 funds.

Mutual Fund Screening Services
July 2009 by Cara Scatizzi
An in-depth look at the top choices for filtering a universe of mutual funds to find the ones suited to your purposes.

The Dividend Yield: Stock Mutual Funds and ETFs That Generate Income
November 2008 by John Markese
Looking for an investment that has the potential to produce a growing income stream and long-term capital appreciation along with reasonable risk? A closer look at stock mutual funds and ETFs with relatively high dividend yields.

Rolling the Currency Dice: Investing in International Bond Funds
June 2008 by John Markese
The search for yield and the weak U.S. dollar have prompted investors to consider investing in foreign bond mutual funds. However, these funds have unique risks that are magnified by the ebb and flow of the currency markets. A careful look is in order before you let your money travel overseas.

Peerless Performers: The Top Funds Over 5 Years
April 2008 by John Markese
To be rated tops, a mutual fund must beat a benchmark, and the crucial benchmark is peer group performance over five years. Who are the current top performers, and how did they outperform their peers? A look at the top funds and how they managed to distinguish themselves.

Face Off: Mutual Funds vs. ETFs
June 2007 by John Markese
Exchange-traded funds are America's "financial idol." But what do ETFs have that index mutual funds don't--and vice versa? A side-by-side comparison reveals little difference.

"Enhanced" Index Funds: Can They Beat the Market?
May 2007 by John C. Bogle
A skeptical look at the new breed of "indexers" who focus on weighting portfolios by fundamental factors, such as dividends and cash flows, rather than market capitalizations.

Comparison: Mutual Fund Screening Services
May 2007 by Cara Scatizzi
A look at the top software programs and Web sites to help you search for and analyze mutual funds.

Mutual Fund Marathon: The Top Funds Over Five Years: 2002-2006
April 2007 by John Markese
Mutual funds are judged by their track records, and for long-term investors it is the five-year marathon that is key. Who were the top performers, and what allowed them to survive the marathon run and come out on top? A look at the winners--and how they did it.

Developing a Withdrawal Strategy for Your Fund Portfolio
November 2006 by John Markese
Mutual funds hold one advantage for retirees living off of their retirement savings - their structure makes the withdrawal process easier. However, mutual funds do not eliminate all the challenges or automatically answer all portfolio questions. How to develop a withdrawal strategy for a typical mutual fund portfolio.

Web Sites for Exchange-Traded Funds
October 2006 by AAII Staff
Where to find up-to-date market and trading information on ETFs.

The Top Funds Over Five Years: 2001-2005 Survival of the Fittest
April 2006 by John Markese
The last five years provided the ultimate financial stress test for mutual funds and investors. Some funds flunked, and a few proved to be in top shape. What made these top performers so fit? A look at who survived--and how they did it.

Capitalizing on the Index Fund Advantage
November 2005 by John Markese
Stock index funds offer rock-bottom expense ratios, tax efficiency, diversification and simplicity. But how do you sort through the myriad stock index funds and the numerous stock indexes they follow? An investor’s guide to indexes and index funds.

The EZ Approach to ETF Portfolio Building
October 2005 by AAII Staff
Despite the dizzying array of complicated investment products to choose among, there is a simple way to build a low-cost, low-maintenance, fully diversified portfolio. And all you need are a few key exchange-traded funds. A look at the low-hassle ETF portfolio.

The Individual Investor's Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds
October 2005 by Jean Henrich
Our annual guide to over 180 exchange-traded funds--portfolio baskets of securities that look like mutual funds but trade like stocks. Includes a complete listing of all existing stock and fixed-income exchange-traded funds, plus articles on what you need to know about investing in them.

The Individual Investor's Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds 2005
October 2005 by Maria Crawford Scott, Jean Henrich
Our annual guide to over 180 exchange-traded funds—portfolio baskets of securities that look like mutual funds but trade like stocks. Includes a complete listing of all existing stock and fixed-income exchange-traded funds, plus articles on what you need to know about investing in them.

Does Your Portfolio Need an Addition? Think Real Estate Funds
June 2005 by John Markese
Real estate funds have had quite a run over the last five years, and the bull market may or may not be over. But these funds hold charm for investors beyond just the potential for high raw returns.

Comparison: Mutual Fund Screening & Analysis Services
May 2005 by Cara Scatizzi
A look at the most popular software programs and Web sites to help you search for and analyze mutual funds.

The Top Funds Over Five Years: What Made Them Different?
April 2005 by John Markese
Mutual Funds: The last five years have provided a rigorous test track for mutual funds. A look at who made it to the top—and how they got there.

Allocation Over Time: Life Cycle Mutual Funds
November 2004 by John Markese
Mutual Funds: Life cycle mutual funds are designed to make investing easier by providing an all-in-one lifetime asset allocation package. But the selection process is more complex than it sounds. A comparison of the packages.

Tailoring Your Allocation to the Stage You're In With Life Cycle Funds
November 2004 by AAII Staff
Life cycle mutual funds are designed to make the asset allocation decision easy - one fund for one individual based on their stage in life. But nothing is ever easy. What do you need to know about life cycle mutual funds? A look at what 401(k) investors need to know.

The Individual Investor's Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds, 2nd Edition
October 2004 by Maria Crawford Scott
Mutual Funds: Our annual guide to the hot new competitors to index mutual funds includes a complete listing of over 150 stock and fixed-income exchange-traded funds, plus articles on what you need to know to about investing in them.

Gimme (Tax) Shelter: Protecting Your Income Using Municipal Bond Funds
June 2004 by John Markese
Mutual Funds: Municipal bond funds provide an easy way for many investors to keep their tax bills to a minimum. How to decide if they are the right choice for you.

The Emerging Markets Re-Emerge: Funds Get Hot Again
April 2004 by John Markese
Emerging markets stock and bond funds are re-emerging to reclaim their status as true growth investments. But they are still relatively exotic, and appropriate only for investors with longer horizons and an understanding of the risks.

Scandal! What Should You Do With Your Funds?
January 2004 by Harold Evensky
What should individual investors do in the face of news stories concerning legal and moral failures within the mutual fund industry? Steps you should take with your mutual funds.

Searching for Dividend Yield From Your Stock Mutual Funds
November 2003 by John Markese
Searching for more yield? One place to look is among stock funds with high dividend yields. Not only do dividend-paying stock funds have a growth component, qualified dividends receive advantageous tax rates under the new laws.

The Individual Investor's Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds
October 2003 by Maria Crawford Scott
Our comprehensive listing covers 130 exchange-traded funds that track almost every index imaginable. They range from the broad-based to single sectors, REITs, domestic and international, and even fixed income.

What You Need to Know About Fixed-Income Exchange-Traded Funds
October 2003 by AAII Staff
A look at the four newcomers to the exchange-traded fund universe--what bond indexes they track and how they work.

Comparison: Mutual Fund Screening Systems
July 2003 by John Bajkowski
Comparing the data and screening power of six software programs and nine Web-based services for locating funds that meet your criteria.

Taking the Load Off of "Must Have" Fully Loaded Funds
July 2003 by AAII Staff
If you are investing larger amounts of money, many mutual funds that are sold with sales charges offer discounts. The size of the discount varies, depending upon the amount of the investment and the breakpoint schedule of the fund.

Taking the Load Off of "Must Have" Fully Loaded Funds
July 2003 by AAII Staff
Many mutual funds that are sold with sales charges offer discounts if you are investing larger amounts of money. The size of the discount varies, depending upon the amount of the investment and the breakpoint schedule of the fund.

Top Funds Over Five Years: Analyzing How They Got There
July 2003 by John Markese
Lists of top-performing funds can be dangerous to investors--the temptation to invest in the top funds without understanding how they got there is great.

Micro-Cap Mutual Funds: Searching for the Future Giants
April 2003 by John Markese
Micro-cap stocks are not as well covered as larger-cap stocks, and as a result a fund manager has a greater chance of adding significant value. They also do not track the overall market perfectly, adding to portfolio diversification.

New Horizons: Introducing Exchange-Traded Bond Funds
January 2003 by Albert J. Fredman
Bond ETFs offer benefits similar to those of stock ETFs, such as low cost, diversification, the ability to trade shares throughout the day, and the ability to short a portfolio.

Your Mutual Fund Portfolio: Choosing the Level of Complexity
November 2002 by John Markese
Using the three-tiered mutual fund portfolio guideline, you can create any mutual fund portfolio you want that comfortably matches your investor profile in terms of complexity, yet still remain properly diversified.

Your Mutual Fund Portfolio: Choosing the Level of Complexity
November 2002 by AAII Staff
Using the three-tiered mutual fund portfolio guideline, you can create any mutual fund portfolio you want that comfortably matches your investor profile in terms of complexity, yet still remain properly diversified.

One-Stop Mutual Fund Shopping: A Guide to the Discount Brokers
October 2002 by John Markese
Switching funds within a family is relatively easy, but switching among fund families has significant costs in time and paperwork. With mutual fund supermarkets, one phone call will do it.

Diversification: How to Get Broad Exposure Overseas
August 2002 by Albert J. Fredman
Overseas markets have become better places to invest as foreign economies move toward a U.S.-style model. In addition, the recently expanded coverage provided by the MSCI EAFE index is good news for foreign index fund investors.

What You Need to Know About Investing in Bond Mutual Funds
July 2002 by Annette Thau
While bond funds share a number of characteristics with individual bonds, they should not be viewed as interchangeable investments. Indeed, bond funds differ from individual bonds in some important respects.

Fund Expenses: Class Matters When Buying Multi-Class Fund Shares
June 2002 by John Markese
Share classes are for the same fund but involve different fee structures. The best class for you will vary depending on several factors, but the costs of choosing the wrong class can be considerable.

Fund Expenses: Class Matters When Buying Multi-Class Shares
June 2002 by AAII Staff
Share classes are for the same fund but involve different fee structures. The best class for you will vary depending on several factors, but the costs of choosing the wrong class can be considerable.

Fund Investors' Biggest Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them
May 2002 by Albert J. Fredman
Fund investors are not immune to mistakes, and fund managers can compound mistakes made by fund owners. One of the biggest mistakes is overconfidence, and the stock market is highly effective at deflating overblown egos.

Fund Investors' Biggest Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them
May 2002 by AAII Staff , Albert J. Fredman
Fund investors are not immune to mistakes, and fund managers can compound mistakes made by fund owners. One of the biggest mistakes is overconfidence, and the stock market is highly efffective at deflating overblown egos.

How to Rate a Mutual Fund: Personalizing the Star System
April 2002 by AAII Staff
Mutual Funds: The funds that made it into AAII's Top Funds Guide are of investor interest and are readily available, with low expenses and no or low loads, above-average returns, and they have not "bought" their returns with mountainous risk.

How to Rate a Mutual Fund: Personalizing the Star System
April 2002 by John Markese
The funds that made it into AAII's Top Funds Guide are of investor interest and are readily available, with low expenses and no or low loads, above-average returns, and they have not "bought" their returns with mountainous risk.

What You Need to Know About Mutual Funds and Taxes
February 2002 by
Mutual fund tax report statements are sent to shareholders in late January. They are important because you need to add distributions to your original cost basis when figuring gains or losses on shares sold.

An Interview With Matthew B. Fahey, Portfolio Manager, Marshall Mid-Cap Value Fund
November 2001 by Maria Crawford Scott
A bottom-up value approach looks for mid-cap stocks that can make the grade.

U.S. Government Bond Funds: A Portfolio Counterweight
November 2001 by John Markese
Mutual Funds: As a relatively low risk, understandable and steady counterweight for your stock portfolio, U.S. government bond funds are hard to beat if you do not want to buy the bonds directly and manage them yourself.

Financial Check-Up: Figuring Out Your Mutual Fund Portfolio
August 2001 by AAII Staff
A simple worksheet for your mutual fund portfolio allows you to see what it may generate over time in terms of income, return, and risk. It also allows you to see the trade-offs that can occur with different allocations.

Mutual Fund Screening Systems
May 2001 by Kenneth J. Michal
A survey of 6 disk-based and 8 Internet systems that allow you to search a universe of mutual funds on various criteria.

Plugging Into Planning Tools Sponsored by Mutual Fund Families
April 2000 by John Markese
Mutual Funds: On-line planning programs ask you to respond to hypothetical situations. Seemingly unimportant word choices and question sequencing will influence your answers and thus the suggested asset allocation.

The Sell Decision With Mutual Funds: Knowing When to Walk Away
October 1998 by Albert J. Fredman
There are good reasons for selling a mutual fund, and times when should you stay put.

Beyond the Numbers: Getting to Know a Manager
April 1998 by AAII Staff
At some point you have to look beyond the performance statistics to see who made them happen, so you can form some kind of judgment about future performance.

Tax-Conscious Funds: For Investors, It's the Leftovers That Count
February 1998 by Albert J. Fredman
Most managers downplay tax efficiency because they are rewarded on pretax numbers, but a few exceptions exist--including index funds and special tax-managed funds.

How Many Mutual Funds Should You Have in Your Investment Portfolio?
April 1997 by AAII Staff
How many funds do you need in your investment portfolio?

The Mutual Fund Route to the Growth Potential of Emerging Markets
May 1996 by Albert J. Fredman
Mutual Funds Column: A burgeoning segment of mutual funds offers opportunity for diversified investment in countries with developing markets. A look at emerging market funds.

Benchmarking: Assessing Your Ability as a Manager of Fund Managers
April 1996 by John Markese
How have you done in managing your portfolio of mutual funds? Using benchmarks to measure your ability as a portfolio manager.

Wrestling With Risk: A Multiheaded Concept With No Single Measure
February 1996 by Albert J. Fredman
How can you measure risk in a mutual fund? An explanation of the different yardsticks needed for a concept that can take many forms.

Aggressive Growth Stock Funds: Examining a Rocket's Blueprints
January 1996 by John Markese
Mutual Funds Workshop: A look at the current crop of aggressive growth mutual funds: Despite their variety: all share one common trait--volatility.

Guide to Top Mutual Funds 2014
by AAII Staff

Mutual Funds Articles