What mutual fund screener would you recommend

[my2¢]

I'll soon be rolling over a 401k most likely into some mutual funds. It's been awhile since I traded stocks and options, never been much into mutual funds other than those in 401k and sometime back I held some Longleaf Partners Shares. What are some good on-line screeners? I'll be looking to find average returns with better-than-average risks. .

 

[IcebergSlim]

I'll soon be rolling over a 401k most likely into some mutual funds. It's been awhile since I traded stocks and options, never been much into mutual funds other than those in 401k and sometime back I held some Longleaf Partners Shares. What are some good on-line screeners? I'll be looking to find average returns with better-than-average risks. .

Trying to forecast the performance of actively managed funds is a loser......if all you are looking for is benchmark returns, consider the least expensive index options and adjust for risk through sector allocation....

 

[IcebergSlim]

I'll soon be rolling over a 401k most likely into some mutual funds. It's been awhile since I traded stocks and options, never been much into mutual funds other than those in 401k and sometime back I held some Longleaf Partners Shares. What are some good on-line screeners? I'll be looking to find average returns with better-than-average risks. .

Trying to forecast the performance of actively managed funds is a loser......if all you are looking for is benchmark returns, go with the least expensive index options and adjust for risk through sector allocation....

You can add "mechanical alpha" and auto-rebalancing by using fundamentally, or equal, weighted index products....

 

[my2¢]

Thanks. I understood most of that. Fortunately our company started a new benefit in September where we get 3 free visits with a financial advisor and so I'll be able to get help deciphering the rest.

 

[IcebergSlim]

Thanks. I understood most of that. Fortunately our company started a new benefit in September where we get 3 free visits with a financial advisor and so I'll be able to get help deciphering the rest.

In the main, retail advisors don't know much of squat.....to them "everything looks like a nail"....

There are great resources available on the innertubes....

Look up "cap weighting" vs "fundamental" or "equal" weighting...

Learn a little about "asset allocation"...won't take you long - you don't need to get too jiggy with it...

As a general rule, the more "efficient" the market (that is a function of the amount of information about and liquidity of the asset class - think US Large Cap, highly efficient, thousands of analysts, narrow spreads vs International Small cap, little research available, wide spreads) the less value in active management.....No need to pay 80-125 basis points for it......

 

[Georgenelson]

Can you tell me which mutual fund is suitable for Infrastructure Projects Funds?

 

[sjay]

Can you tell me which mutual fund is suitable for Infrastructure Projects Funds?

municipal bond funds

 

[Mac1958]

I'll soon be rolling over a 401k most likely into some mutual funds. It's been awhile since I traded stocks and options, never been much into mutual funds other than those in 401k and sometime back I held some Longleaf Partners Shares. What are some good on-line screeners? I'll be looking to find average returns with better-than-average risks. .

I do this for a living, and there really isn't one screener that provides all the data that I use to analyze funds.

Morningstar (http://screen.morningstar.com/FundSelector.html) and Lipper (Lipper Leaders - Home) ratings are helpful, but if you're going to get serious you need to take a deeper dive into each mutual fund you're considering, because many of them go off the reservation now and then. This means narrowing your list down and looking at the prospectuses (or at least the fact sheets) of these things to see what they're up to, exactly what they're investing in and at what allocations.

My best advice would be to interview three or four advisors in your area (better if they're recommended by someone you know) and let them do this. A +/- 1.0% fee would be worth it.
.

 

[Toro]

Buy passive mutual funds.

I used to run the equivalent of a mutual fund, and even though I beat my index pretty handily, most money managers can't.

I'd also consider ETFs. I generally like them better than mutual funds. But avoid the leveraged ETFs like the plague.

You might want to look at target date funds as well.

 

[Toro]

I'll soon be rolling over a 401k most likely into some mutual funds. It's been awhile since I traded stocks and options, never been much into mutual funds other than those in 401k and sometime back I held some Longleaf Partners Shares. What are some good on-line screeners? I'll be looking to find average returns with better-than-average risks. .

I do this for a living, and there really isn't one screener that provides all the data that I use to analyze funds.

Morningstar (http://screen.morningstar.com/FundSelector.html) and Lipper (Lipper Leaders - Home) ratings are helpful, but if you're going to get serious you need to take a deeper dive into each mutual fund you're considering, because many of them go off the reservation now and then. This means narrowing your list down and looking at the prospectuses (or at least the fact sheets) of these things to see what they're up to, exactly what they're investing in and at what allocations.

My best advice would be to interview three or four advisors in your area (better if they're recommended by someone you know) and let them do this. A +/- 1.0% fee would be worth it.
.

I generally agree.

However, if one doesn't want to deal with an adviser, the old rule of 100 - your age = stock allocation and the rest in bonds is still a pretty good rule of thumb.

 

[Mac1958]

Buy passive mutual funds.

I used to run the equivalent of a mutual fund, and even though I beat my index pretty handily, most money managers can't.

I'd also consider ETFs. I generally like them better than mutual funds. But avoid the leveraged ETFs like the plague.

You might want to look at target date funds as well.

I use ETFs for equities and actively-managed funds for bonds...
.

 

[william the wie]

By all means diversify, probably more than what has been advised, currency policy is disjoint. I do not know the end result but the US and China are the large outliers I suspect the US will be the big winner but with EZ fiscal policy still screwed up Europe will likely be the big loser.

 

[sonic]

I wouldn't waste time trying to screen funds. Just find one of the low cost "Lazy Portolios" that matches your desired asset allocation and be done with it. You can get the info you need over at the bogleheads.org community and of course googling Lazy Portfolio. Above all buy very low cost funds like Vanguard, DFA, etc. offer, so you're not throwing your money away on management fees.