Top Mutual Funds: Building No Load Mutual Fund Portfolios

No load mutual fund investors normally eitherviable investment strategies. However, spreading
invest in the best mutual funds from one fundthe risk among several companies can reduce
family or invest in the top mutual funds fromwhat I would call mutual fund company risk.
several fund families.Fidelity and Vanguard are very highly regarded
Building a mutual fund portfolio requires a welland successful mutual fund companies today, but
thought out investment strategy that can proveno one knows what the future will bring. No
rewarding over a long period of time. If you actcompany is infallible, as we have seen in recent
as your own investment advisor, you will mostyears with the demise of top companies once
likely implement a strategy that focuses on noconsidered to be leaders in their fields. Further,
load mutual funds. No load mutual fund investorsthere is no reason why a person cannot invest in
normally either invest in the best mutual fundsno load mutual funds from several companies.
from one fund family, sometimes with the help ofSure, you are likely to get a plethora of
a mutual fund newsletter, or invest in the topstatements in the mail, but you could opt for
mutual funds from several fund families. Theelectronic delivery. Unfortunately, far too many
rationale for implementing either of thesepeople consider the volume of mailings to be a
strategies depends at least partly on your viewfactor when choosing an investment program.The
on how to best add value to a portfolio.SelectingExpense Factor
the Best Mutual Funds From One Fund FamilyWhether you decide to invest in the no load
Investors who believe that asset allocation ismutual funds from one family or several, please
more important than manager selection are themake sure that you are selecting funds with
likely implementers of a single-family approach. Asrelatively low expense ratios. The evidence is
long as you can find a fund company that offersclear and convincing that mutual funds with low
high quality no load mutual funds that cover aexpense ratios outperform funds with high
wide variety of sectors and styles, you should beexpense ratios. This is especially true for funds
able to implement this approach. This strategy isthat invest in the large-cap sector, where it can
top down and active in terms of asset allocationbe difficult for a manager to outperform the S&P
but passive regarding manager selection. While500 Index, a widely used benchmark for large-cap
fund managers are important here, they do notmutual funds. In the large cap-world, information is
drive the investment process. Several mutual fundwidely known and some managers find it
newsletters offer model portfolios comprised ofchallenging to add value through fundamental
mutual funds from one fund family. Selecting theresearch. Parting Advice
Top Mutual Funds From Several Fund FamiliesThe decision to invest with one family or several
The multi-family strategy normally incorporates acan be very personal. Some people fall in love
top down as well as a bottom up approach towith their fund companies just like a portfolio
investing no load mutual funds. For the purpose ofmanager falls in love with a sector and refuses to
this article, top down refers to asset allocationexpand into other parts of the market. Emotions
while bottom up deals with manager selection.tend to cloud your judgment, leading to less than
Investors using this approach create a desiredoptimal investment decisions. Although as humans
allocation and then select the best funds availablewe are innately emotional, when navigating the
to implement the strategy. Which is the Betterinvestment world, you are better off making
Approach?rational investment decisions.
Single-family and multi-family investing are both