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Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
  • Q&A With Burton Malkiel : Beware T-Notes; Find New Income
    Hi Andy,
    On the main page of their web site, you can get an idea what a model portfolio would look like by selecting the account type and your age. It's a new company so they don't have any actual performance data for the model portfolios. Also, they are a software-based financial advisor, so no prospectus is needed.
    I may send them the minimum just to see the actual recommended portfolio and see how it performs going forward. Then if I'm pleased with the performance, I will send them over $10K as they deserve to be paid for their services, and 0.25% is not much if it includes transaction fees.
    Kevin
  • IBD's Advice On Mutual Funds: Don't Trade; Hold For Long Run
    Reply to @perpetual_Bull: My point was, I would probably be a 66 year old bag boy at my local grocery store had I heeded the conventional wisdom of the John Bogles of the world when I was younger. Namely, the best you can do is surrender and just mimic the indexes by being a passive and somulent investor.
    I just happen to believe that if you are someone like myself with limited skills, abilities, and intelligence, that the only way to achieve one's financial goals is by a 110% total commitment to the process. One of my favorite books, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind (T. Harv Eker) covered this topic extensively. I wish that book had been published long, long, ago when I was a struggling trader for more years than I care to remember.
    Even if you factor in my taxable account to the IRAs you referenced, I am by no means rich but simply a small-time, Average Joe Trader who over the years happened to be at the right places at the right times and took the required actions. I would much rather be lucky than smart.
    Oh yes, my blood pressure is just fine. Probably because I find time to run five miles on an almost daily basis.
  • CalPERS Considers Dumping Active Management
    Reply to @msf:
    Hi msf,
    Thank you for the excellent reply to my post, and for the diligent work that you did to access a summary of Odean’s earlier research.
    I too much admire the collaborative studies that Brad Barber and Terrance Odean complete. This pair gets considerable mileage from their work. The foundational data sets have traveled extensively. I suspect that the numbers that I cited are contained in this later version of his original thesis studies:
    http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/odean/papers current versions/doinvestors.pdf
    I said “suspect” since I did not directly quote from his original report. I lifted the specific values from Chapter 13 of Charles Ellis’s book “Winning the Loser’s Game”. Ellis provides a convenient summary that is easy to understand. But it is a secondary source so errors are possible.
    The Link that I referenced has one of Odean’s observations that my wife truly treasures. He concludes that “Using the same data, Barber and Odean (1999b) find that men trade more actively than women and thereby reduce their returns more so than do women.”
    Professional money managers do have a competitive edge over private investors. Recall that I noted “In truth, it is likely that the pros do not suck as much as we do. Often the pros do outrun market returns.”
    But it is a hard battle for them since they are now mostly matched against a smart, skillful, fully funded research, committed opposing professional team with huge financial incentives. It’s like two superb pro football teams neutralizing each other’s superior talents, and ending the game in a scoreless (zero Alpha) tie. Ugh!
    The second reference that I provided addresses this aspect of the equity universe. In general, these professional outfits do not add sufficient excess returns to offset the added costs of their operations. The institutional tide is definitely moving against the active investment community.
    Like you, my portfolio is populated by some actively managed assets that feature low cost operations, a rather infrequent trading profile, lower turnover rates, and seasoned managers. I hold these positions for lengthy timeframes to allow market cycles to test these managers. I do eliminate poor earlier choices.
    But my portfolio also contains a mix of passive Index products. These lower my cost structure still further, and add stability to the overall portfolio performance. The record suggests that I am mildly successful using my style of portfolio management and risk control.
    Again, like you, I believe I’m a Lake Wobegone resident. Of course, constant monitoring is the penalty for that residency since outcomes can change super quickly.
    Best Wishes.
  • Open Thread: If the Market Drops, What are You Buying/Selling?
    Reply to @Hiyield007: The financial that I continue to look at is Fiserv (FISV). Not a "value", but a financial services co that held up reasonably well in 2008. "Fiserv is a leading global provider of financial services technology serving approximately 16,000 clients worldwide. The company provides account processing systems, electronic payments processing products services, internet and mobile banking systems, and related services. Fiserv handles more than $1 trillion in payments and manages more than 20 billion digital transactions annually."
    A bet on services all banks need, as well as evolving tech (mobile banking, etc.) If only it paid a dividend...
    Just my 2 cents. Betting on specific banks may pay off more if things continue, but I suppose the idea of betting on services all banks require may be a tad less volatile over time.
    Additionally, Whitney apparently also likes Discover (DFS)
  • WSJ: Fidelity's ETF Fee Spurs a Backlash
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324392804578360800747665608.html?mod=ITP_moneyandinvesting_0
    If you cannot access the article through above link try the following Google search:
    https://www.google.com/search?q=Fidelity's+ETF+Fee+Spurs+a+Backlash

    Fidelity on Wednesday announced it would begin offering 65 ETFs from BlackRock Inc.'s iShares unit without charging customers a trading commission. The deal expands a previous agreement involving 30 commission-free ETFs.
    But the Boston money manager is tacking on an additional fee of $7.95 a trade to investors who sell the ETFs within 30 days and to financial advisers who sell within 60 days.
    Advisers also complained that Fidelity replaced 10 of the commission-free iShares ETFs on its previous menu. Nine of the new ETFs have lower trading volumes, suggesting they are less popular with investors.
    Here is link to Fidelity about the iShares ETFs: https://www.fidelity.com/etfs/ishares

    Note: A short-term trading fee of $7.95 will be charged for any sales that occur within 30 days of the original purchase of the ETF. This fee is being waived for all customers through July 31, 2013.
  • Taking profits vs staying long
    Reply to @Art: Stay the course ! The market will be higher at the end of the year than it is now. How about a health care, technology, financial fund ?
    Regards,
    Ted
  • Taking profits vs staying long
    Hi Art,
    You ask the perennial investors question. No forecaster ever has the absolutely correct answer since nobody is perfectly prescient or omniscient. Wall Street is littered with fallen experts who had momentary success, but failed to repeat.
    This is not a current observation. Market forecasting experts have been doing the public a measurable disservice for over 80 years. As early as 1932 Alfred Cowles published his analysis of the inability of forecasters to forecast. Here is a Link to his classic paper:
    http://cowles.econ.yale.edu/archive/reprints/forecasters33.pdf
    Perhaps the best advice to be given is too not trust professional forecasters of any persuasion.
    Bad decisions and Black Swan events happen everywhere. Bad decision making and Black Swan events happen more frequently in both the professional and amateur investment universe.
    Indeed I did write "that individual investors make poor timing and product selection decisions". That’s not just me making noise; I am merely reporting investment industry research on investor outcomes.
    To put a hard edge to my assertion, allow me to quote a summary conclusion from the 2012 DALBAR QAIB report (their 2013 report which will incorporate data through 2012 will be released shortly).
    From DALBAR, their devastating overarching observation is "that individual investors make poor timing and product selection decisions". That’s bad news for the “average” investor. DALBAR finds that the average private equity investor lost 5.73 % in 2011 while the S&P 500 was delivering a plus 2.12 % return. Similarly, the average fixed income investor was only getting a 1.34 % reward while the Barclays aggregate bond market was generating a 7.84% annual return.
    The fractional individual investor outcomes relative to what could be achieved from a simple buy-and-hold passive Index investment strategy is persistent over long timeframes. DALBAR demonstrates that the average private investor underperforms these standard benchmarks for 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, 10-year, and 20-year study periods. The average investor plays the Loser’s game. Charles Ellis addresses this issue in his 1998 book “Winning the Loser’s Game”.
    Note how I kept emphasizing the “average” investor statistic. I truly do not believe that MFO members are average investors. Although we may not satisfy the Lake Woebegone standard of everyone being above average, I suspect we are as a cohort above the average mutual fund investor. Dissenting opinions to the contrary are invited. That’s why I am at full attention to mutual fund recommendations and analyses offered by MFO itself and MFO participants.
    I score my portfolio holdings against relevant benchmarks on a quarterly basis. Like everyone else, even after careful research and review, I have made bad decisions. Although I infrequently adjust my asset allocation, and when I do, I do so in an incremental fashion, I do constantly search to upgrade poorly performing individual fund holdings.
    Certainly, if a fund changes its management, or changes its investment strategy (like morphing from a concentrated to a broadly diversified portfolio), or changes its fee structure, or changes its trading frequency, divestiture decisions are easy if these changes nullify my reasons for initially committing to the fund.
    Another more common reason is if the questionable fund consistently underperforms its appointed benchmark. This is not quite so easy a decision since the allowable underachieving time span is a debatable issue; the marketplace might just have momentarily gravitated away from the manager’s style.
    So I constantly upgrade, but I am not putting any additional money into the markets. I am not moving into fixed income either; the payouts are barely keeping up with inflation. Our family situation likely differs significantly from most present MFO participants, and that difference is important. Our plans and needs are definitely not yours. However, we are not now abandoning the equity marketplace.
    Both my wife and I have been taking MRDs (Minimum Required Distributions) for years and our portfolio’s value has continued to increase. Given our ages, our portfolio structure, and our withdrawal rates, the likelihood of our portfolio survival rate based on Monte Carlo simulations approaches 100 % (never exactly 100 % since it’s a probability estimate). Our portfolio can handle a major market hit and we would still not be in a financial danger zone.
    Given our circumstances, our decision is to stand fixed with our slightly upgraded portfolio. The majority of the signals that we use to gauge the equity market’s health (momentum, GDP growth, P/E ratio, inflation) remain positive. This year’s early equity gains are a little disquieting, and a minor retrenchment would not be surprising.
    Black Swans happen with lightening speed, so dedicated vigilant monitoring is the order of the day. That never changes.
    In no way do I recommend our course of current inaction to you guys. Each of you is the captain of your own ship and must plot your own compass headings to reach safe harbor.
    Good luck to all of us since bad weather is difficult to forecast with high precision.
    Best Regards.
  • Looking for a fund for my Roth.
    I am not sure I understand this right... Roth accounts are individual accounts. They are not shared like a bank account. If it is an account held at a Financial Institution for him/her, you don't have any legal claim. So, you have informal agreement.
    Legally, when he cashes that out, if he/she gives you the money, he/she will be gifting to you and declare it to the IRS (well provided that it is done in a way according to the letter of the law).
    From: http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/215816/inheritance+tax/Significant+Estate+Planning+Developments+in+2013

    Gift Tax Exclusion. The Act makes permanent the unification of the gift and estate tax exclusion amounts. This means that in 2013 each person can make lifetime gifts up to $5.25 million without paying gift tax. However, all gifts that use a portion of this gift tax exclusion will reduce the donor's estate tax exclusion available at death. For example, if a parent makes a $2 million lifetime taxable gift to a child, the parent's remaining estate tax exclusion amount is reduced by $2 million at death.
    The lifetime gift tax exclusion only applies to gifts in excess of the annual gift exclusion (i.e., the annual amount a person may gift to any person tax-free). For 2013, the annual gift exclusion is $14,000 per person (or $28,000 per married couple).
    But I also do not understand why you are waiting for his retirement. He can get all the money from a Roth IRA without any penalty after 591/2. Or, is this a Roth 401k? Then, he might have to wait for retirement for funds to be available but again in a Roth IRA account, he can withdraw the money now without any penalties or taxes.
    As for good funds you seek, I suggest you take a look at:
    VWINX and GLRBX
  • When to sell some profits?
    Bob C makes a really good point (in the form of a question)...have a plan as to, what will you do with the "profits". Profits are in quotes because they are only profits if you take them. I have lost my share of 'profits" along the way due to not having a plan for the profits. I have spent some time thinking through this little understood dynamic...not so little when you think about the reason you and I invest...to make some "profits"!
    I like the idea of paying down debt with profits...corporations do this everyday and we applaude them for their "concern for the company". Remember your household is like a company. You probably have a number of holes in your overall financial picture you'd like to make whole...maybe its a lack of good healthcare or life insurance or long term care insurance. Maybe you need to set up a wedding fund for your kid whose is shacking up with her boyfriend. Maybe your driving around in a 20 year old beater. We all have plenty of holes to fill. Profits should help us fill those holes.
    A few years back I refinanced my home that I held nearly debt free. I got a 4% loan that is now tax deductible and I invested the cash. I purchased a condo in Florida 2 miles form the beach for 1/5 the market price of 2008. The home I refinanced will soon be rented to cover the mortgage and provide a little retirremnt income. Restructuring debt for me was like taking profits because I had created a plan.The cash was king when I negotiated with the seller of the condo. Additional cash went to work in equities that were a lot lower than they are today. I am now in the process of taking profits and paying off a portion of my home debt with profits. Investing is a patient process and requires us to be able to identify value. But when value eventually presents itself as profit we need to have a plan for those profits.
    Like savings, profits should help you diversify, stablise, and pave over the pot holes in your financial road map.
    Good Luck!
  • When to sell some profits?
    Reply to @hank:
    Hi Hank,
    Thank you for your rapid, kind, and informative reply to my late contribution. I appreciated it, and surely all MFO forum participants will appreciate it. It added a deeper diversity of opinion to the discussion. We all benefit from that.
    The primary purpose of my submittals is to identify and possibly suggest investment tools that might contribute to a better market understanding and a more informed general portfolio assembly.
    I try very hard to be as neutral as possible with all my postings relative to everyone’s specific portfolio holdings and potential actions with that portfolio.
    I simply am not qualified to propose specific portfolio recommendations or changes to an asset allocation plan. I do not know enough about the very special circumstances of anyone’s financial position and life status to be comfortable providing such bold advice. So I typically punt on that issue.
    I like to characterize myself as a laidback, relaxed investor. I’m from Southern California so I fit the stereotype. For example, I do deploy the statistical metrics that I highlighted for VirtueRunsDeep, but I do so in a non-formulaic manner. I do not rigorously weight each factor that I scan; I softly assess the overall picture these metrics paint.
    Given that I believe that the MFO forum is populated with very well informed investors, if I were asked to assess the current portfolios of any member, I would judge their overarching holdings to be just perfect for them. I anticipate that each member’s portfolio is properly assembled to satisfy their very specific and personal needs.
    That philosophy is equivalent to the reply I would give to a question about the correct size of any community. In my opinion, the proper first-order response to that question is “its current size”. Some incremental changes might be warranted, but folks naturally reside where they are most happy or where circumstances demand. Likewise, investors naturally gravitate to a portfolio that is most satisfying to their many needs and objectives. A natural equilibrium is established; water seeks its own level.
    Again, thanks for your thoughtful commentary; it helped crystallize my positions on the subject matter.
    Best Wishes.
  • "Yes, the financial system is rigged" article
    Reply to @JoeNoEskimo: When I saw this on Google News today, I looked at the article and got curious about the site. They call "John Birch Society" as their affiliate. Here is their staff. Robert Adelmann is the guy that wrote the article, also a JBS and NRA member.
    So, it is kind of a propaganda article and title is chosen that way.
    The private second has been actually adding net jobs. Government sector (both local, state and federal) has been steadily the counter trend (i.e. job losses). In the last 4 years Government sector has lost a lot of jobs.
    In any case these weekly/monthly reports is less significant but the overall trend is been pretty much steady. It is a slow recovery but not unlike other deep "Financial" crisis.
    If you really care how the Unemployment situation is, here is a good site to read about it. With numbers, charts and everything.
    http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2013/03/employment-report-comments-and-more.html
  • CWS: Market Review March 8, 2013
    Since my edit feature just does not seem to want to function this morning I have posted this quote from his review. Eddy likes Apple and XLF.
    "Despite the massive flameout in many financial stocks, the current environment is ideal for investing in financial firms. Eighteen months ago, I said that the Financial Sector ETF ($XLF) was “a speculative buy if it drops below $12 per share.” It did, and today the XLF is over $18. As well as it’s done, the fundamentals of the financials are still remarkably strong."
    Skeeter
  • WSJ: Is Anything Cheap?
    I bought Hennessey smallcap financial 1 or 1 1/2 year back with the same thought and made 25% since then. Largecap financial may be a good bet compared to smallcap but this manager is a reputed and holds good %age of cash for downside protection when things are heating up.
  • WSJ: Is Anything Cheap?
    Financial Stocks or could just buy VFH
  • Choosing a good International fund
    Here's a look at the lifetime stats of the funds recommended so far in this thread. I added a couple others, FPIVX and WGRNX. Note that every fund on list existing before 2008 drew down 50-60% during the financial crisis. So, just beware and allocate accordingly.
    image
    Of the younger ones, I like FMIJX and FPIVX for international and SFGIX for EM. David has profiled all three: Intriguing New Funds.
  • ASTON/River Road Independent Value Fund Update

    Eric Cinnamond is off to a poor 2013 with ARIVX, which now has $750M AUM. In his most recent commentary, he like Andrew Redleaf and Steven Romick, is positioning for a downturn:

    ...we believe the boom in government spending and growth in government debt is benefiting the current profit cycle. We continue to question the current cycle’s sustainability without the assistance of trillion dollar fiscal deficits.
    In our opinion, the belief that future adverse developments in the economy or asset prices will be met with further government intervention has increased investors’ willingness to assume risk. Although we acknowledge that future government intervention is possible, we do not view it as an adequate form of risk control. We do not assume that politicians or central bankers have the ability to extend economic growth and the current profit cycle indefinitely. Moreover, we are not comforted or persuaded by the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing or the perception of a “Bernanke Put.” We believe it is our fiduciary duty, not our government’s, to attempt to protect Fund shareholders from the risk of permanent capital loss.
    The environment in the credit market has become exceptionally careless, in our opinion, with limited concern for interest-rate or credit risk. Investors in U.S. Treasuries are accepting considerable interest-rate risk for yields near or below the rate of inflation.
    In conclusion, in addition to holding above average cash levels, we are attempting to limit operating and financial risk within the equity portfolio, with particular emphasis on reducing financial risk. Although we are aware that our defensive posture may expose the portfolio to the significant opportunity cost, we believe the pricing of risk will eventually improve and investors will be adequately compensated for remaining patient.

    So, he's holding $418M in cash, or almost 57% of the AUM. Unfortunately, ASTON/River Road ARIVX charges 1.42 ER (or 1.17 for institutional ARVIX, but with a prohibitive $5M min). Mr. Cinnamond is kinda boxed-in since he believes, like the folks at Whitebox, that small caps are over-valued.
    But the recent under-performance is not just due to being cash heavy, he has a couple high conviction (for ARIVX) holdings getting hammered: PAN AMERICAN SILVER PAAS, his top equity holding at just under 4%, down 13% YTD, along with AURICO GOLD AUQ at just under 2%, down 22%. Finally, CONTANGO OIL_GAS MCF, a lesser holding, down 10%.
    Here's M* performance comparison past 3 months:
    image
    I own ARIVX...to Ted's consternation: "Why in the world would you be interested in ARIVX ?" he wrote on 16 Jan.

  • Portfolios-Your top 3 holdings?
    Reply to @Charles:
    Hi Charles. The 10% is a self-imposed limit that I learned the hard way. I overextended during the dot.com bubble and leading up to the financial crisis of 08-09. I got badly burned by investing to heavily in specific fund managers. Therefore, for the sake of my personal sanity, I limit my fund manager risk to no more than 10% of my portfolio.
    I agree with you that a 4-5 fund portfolio is adequate for diversification. But it may not be adequate enough to diversify away manager risk, IMHO. Just look at Bill Miller, Ken Heebner, etc...
    P.S. Charles, I greatly enjoying reading your comments. Your insights and analysis are spectacular. You are an asset to this forum.
    Mike_E
  • How many unique mutual funds are there?
    Remainder of fund family list:
    Nationwide
    Natixis Funds
    Needham
    Neiman Funds
    Neuberger Berman
    New Alternatives
    New Century Portfolios
    New Covenant
    NEW Path Capital Advisors
    Nicholas
    Niemann
    Nile Capital Investment Trust
    Nomura Partners Funds
    North Country Funds
    North Star Investment Management Corp.
    NorthCoast
    Northeast Investors
    Northern Funds
    Northern Lights Fund Tr (Criticalmath)
    Northern Lights Fund Trust
    Northern Lights Fund Trust (GPS)
    Northern Lights Fund Trust (SCA)
    Northern Lights Fund Trust(Giralda)
    Northern Trust
    Northquest Capital Fund Inc
    Nottingham
    Nuance Communications
    Nuance Investments, LLC
    Nuveen
    Nuveen Investments
    Nysa
    Oak Associates
    Oakmark
    Oberweis
    Oceanstone
    OCM
    Old Mutual Investment Funds
    Old Westbury
    Olstein
    OppenheimerFunds
    Oracle
    Orinda Asset Management, LLC
    O'Shaughnessy Mutual Funds
    Osterweis
    Osterweis Capital Management
    OutfitterFunds
    Pacific Advisors Funds
    Pacific Capital
    Pacific Financial
    Pacific LifeFunds
    Palmer Square Capital Management LLC
    Papp
    Paradigm Funds
    Parnassus
    Pathway Advisors
    Patriot
    Pax World
    Paydenfunds
    Payson Funds
    Pear Tree Funds
    Pennant
    Perimeter Capital
    Perkins
    Permanent Portfolio
    Perritt
    Philadelphia Invmt Ptnrs New Generation
    Phocas
    PIA Mutual Funds
    Piedmont
    PIMCO
    Pinnacle
    Pinnacle Capital Management
    Pioneer Investments
    Plainsboro Funds
    Plan Investment Fund
    PMC Funds
    PNC Funds
    Polaris Funds
    Polen Capital Management Inc
    Pope Family Of Funds
    Poplar Forest Capital
    Portfolio 21
    Portfolio Strategies Inc
    Potkul Funds
    Power Income Fund
    PowerShares
    Prasad Series Trust
    Precidian Funds LLC
    Preservation Trust Advisors
    Presidio Funds
    Primary Trend
    PRIMECAP Odyssey Funds
    Princeton
    Principal Funds
    Private Capital Management
    Profit Funds Investment
    ProFunds
    ProShares
    Prospector Funds
    Prudential Investments
    Purisima Funds
    Putnam
    Pyxis Funds
    Quaker
    Quantitative Services Group LLC (QSG)
    QuantShares
    Queens Road Funds
    Rainier
    Ramius
    Ranger Funds Investment Trust
    RBB Funds
    RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc.
    Reaves Select Research
    Redmont
    Reich & Tang
    Reinhartfunds
    Renaissance Capital Greenwich Funds
    Reynolds
    Rice Hall James
    RidgeWorth
    Risk Paradigm Group, LLC
    River Park Funds
    RiverNorth Funds
    RNC Genter Capital Management
    Robeco Investment Funds
    Robeco Investment Management, Inc.
    Rochdale
    Rocky Peak Capital
    Roge Partners Fund
    Roosevelt
    Roxbury Funds
    Royal Bank of Scotland NV
    Royce
    RS Funds
    Russell
    S1 Fund
    SA Funds
    Salient Funds
    Samson
    Sandalwood
    Sands Capital
    Saratoga
    Satuit Capital Management Trust
    Saturna Capital
    Scharf Investments (California)
    Schneider Funds
    Schooner Funds
    Schroder
    Schwab Funds
    Schwartz
    Scout
    Seafarer
    SEI
    Selected Funds
    Sentinel
    Sequoia
    Shelton Capital Management
    Shenkman Capital Management, Inc.
    Sierra Trust
    SignalPoint
    Sit
    Smead Funds
    SMH Capital Advisors
    Smith Barney
    Snow Capital Management L.P.
    Sound Mind
    Sound Shore
    SouthernSunFunds
    Sparrow
    Spirit of America
    STAAR Investment Trust
    Stadion Funds
    State Farm
    State Street Global Advisors
    State Street Master Funds
    SteelPath
    Sterling Capital Funds
    Stewart Capital
    Stone Harbor
    Stonebridge
    Stralem Fund
    Strategic
    Strategic Income Management, LLC
    Stratton
    Stratus Fund
    Stream Exchange Traded Trust
    STW Fixed Income Management LLC
    Summit Global Investments
    SunAmerica
    Sustainable Growth Advisers
    Swan
    Swank
    Swedish Export Credit Corporation
    Symons
    T. Rowe Price
    TacticalShares
    Tanaka
    Target Program
    Tatro Capital, LLC
    Taylor
    TCM Funds
    TCW
    TD Asset Management
    TEAM
    Teberg
    Teucrium
    TFS Capital Funds
    TheCollarFund
    Thesis
    Third Avenue
    Thomas White Funds
    Thompson IM Funds, Inc.
    Thomson Horstmann & Bryant, Inc.
    Thornburg
    Thrivent
    TIAA-CREF Mutual Funds
    Tiedemann Wealth Management, LLC
    Tilson Funds
    Timberline Asset Management LLC
    Timothy Plan
    Tocqueville
    Toews Funds
    Toreador
    Torray
    Tortoise Capital Advisors, L.L.C.
    Touchstone
    Towle & Co
    Transamerica
    Transparent Value Funds
    Transparent Value Trust
    Tributary Funds
    Trust for Credit Unions
    Trust for Professional Mgrs(PTIA)
    TS&W Funds
    Turner Funds
    Tweedy Browne
    Two Oaks Investment Management, Inc.
    U.S. Global Investors
    UBS
    UBS AG
    UCM
    United Association Funds
    United States Commodity Funds LLC
    Upright Investments Trust
    USA Mutuals
    USAA
    VALIC
    Valley Forge
    Value Line
    Van Eck
    Van Hulzen Asset Management, LLC
    Vanguard
    Vantagepoint Funds
    Vericimetry Funds
    VFM
    Victoria1522
    Victory
    Viking
    Villere
    Virtus
    Volumetric
    VRM Funds
    VTL Associates, LLC
    Vulcan Value Partners
    W.P. Stewart
    Waddell & Reed
    Wade Financial
    Wakefield Asset Management LLLP
    Wall Street
    Wall Street EWM Funds Trust
    Walthausen Funds
    Wanger
    Wasatch
    WBI FUNDS
    WCM Investment Management
    Wegener
    Weitz
    Wells Fargo Advantage
    Wentworth, Hauser and Violich
    WesMark
    Westcore
    Westfield Capital Management Company, LP
    Westport Funds
    Westwood
    Whitebox Advisors, LLC
    Whitebox Mutual Funds
    William Blair
    Williamsburg Investment Trust
    Wilmington Funds
    Wilshire Mutual Funds
    Wintergreen Funds
    Wireless
    Wisconsin Capital Management
    WisdomTree
    WOA
    World Funds
    World Funds, Inc
    WorldCommodity Funds
    Wright
    Zacks WMG
    Zeo
    Ziegler Lotsoff Capital Management Inv
  • How many unique mutual funds are there?
    Reply to @David_Snowball: Yes indeed.
    For the record, here are all 767 families...in two posts (1-M, N-Z)
    13D Management
    1492 Capital Management, LLC
    361 Funds
    AAM
    Aberdeen
    Absolute Strategies
    AC ONE
    Academy
    Acadian Funds
    Adams Harkness Funds
    Adirondack Funds
    Advance Capital I
    Advantus
    AdvisorOne Funds
    Advisors' Inner Circle (Chartwell)
    ADVISORS SERIES TRUST(Davidson)
    AdvisorShares
    Advisory Research
    Aegis
    AIS Capital Management LLC
    Akre
    Al Frank
    Alger
    AllianceBernstein
    Allianz Funds
    Allianz Global Investors
    Allied Asset
    Alpha Capital Funds
    AlphaClone
    AlphaMark
    AlphaOne Investment Services, LLC
    Alpine
    ALPS
    Altegris
    AmericaFirst Funds
    American Beacon
    American Century Investments
    American Funds
    American Growth
    American Independence
    American Money Management
    American Pension Investors
    American Trust
    Ameristock
    AMF
    AMIDEX
    Ancora
    Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC
    Apex Capital Management
    Appleseed Fund
    Appleton
    AQR Funds
    Aquila
    Arbitrage Fund
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