This Week: Fund 411

by AAII Staff | April 17, 2019

 

 
For Mutual Funds, Competition Doesn’t Mean Lower Fees
New research shows that, contrary to economic theory, more competition in the mutual fund industry doesn’t lead to lower prices. Expense ratios for U.S. domestic equity funds operating in more competitive market segments “charge significantly higher annual expense ratios than funds operating in less competitive market segments.”   More »
 
 
Do the Top ETFs Continue to Outperform?
 
Based on seven years of tracking the best-performing exchange-traded funds (ETFs), we analyzed the 10 highest-returning ETFs to see whether they continue to beat the market and their category peers.   More »
Charles Rotblut, CFA
 
 
You Can Judge a Fund by Its Volatility
 
Unlike returns, fund volatility can be persistent. Actively managed funds with high levels of volatility (as measured by the variance in returns) are likely to stay highly volatile. Actively managed funds with low volatility are likely to continue to experience low volatility.   More »
 
 
 
 
How Many Mutual Funds Should You Have in Your Investment Portfolio?
 
Do you collect mutual funds or ETFs in your portfolio? Have you held mutual funds for so long you don’t remember why you bought them in the first place? Do the funds you have still match your financial goals or your investment style? This article walks you through the process of evaluating your fund holdings to see if it’s time to scale back.   More »
 

 

 

 

Member Question 
When it comes to the largest technology companies, including Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google, do you agree or disagree that the federal government should break up these companies into smaller, competing companies to lessen their influence over public communication? 
A) Strongly agree 
B) Somewhat agree 
C) Somewhat disagree 
D) Strongly disagree 
E) Not sure 
vote now
Be sure to vote on this week’s question for the opportunity to offer your insights on our open-ended question.


Previous Week’s Results 
Do you think social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) does more to bring us together or does more to divide us? 

Does more to divide us : 46%
 
Does both : 41%
 
Does more to bring us together : 6%
 
Not sure : 4%
 
Does neither : 3%
 

Poll results are as of 9 a.m. (Central) on Monday. 1,962 respondents. 

 
 
AAII Survey: Does Social Media Bring Us Together or Divide Us?
   
  Social media has been receiving more negative press than positive these days, with social media firms being accused of influencing elections, promoting hate speech and sharing user data. Our latest weekly reader survey asked whether social media brings us together or divides us. We then followed up with a special question asking whether social media firms should face government regulation or oversight.   More »
 
 
 

 

Guide to Top Mutual Funds 2019
   
  AAII’s annual guide to the top mutual funds offers total-return performance of common index benchmarks; average performance and risk of common fund categories; the performance of the 50 most widely held mutual funds; and the best- and worst-performing funds of 2018. In all, the guide covers approximately 1,600 mutual funds.   More »

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