While the markets may be buoyant, this is a time for caution. Some funds now seem richly valued as suggested by dividend yields and price-earnings ratios. Investors should be wary, underweighting the pricey funds described below—or staying...

The mutual fund industry loves to launch new products. But fund companies should close long-term laggards before launching more.

When searching for strong asset managers, big is not always best. But finding a good small fund can be difficult.

To read the accounts in the popular press of last year's mutual fund performance is to understand the frustration felt by many investors. Exhibit A: Barron's annual fund family ranking issue earlier this year doctored the headline The Best Fund...

Plenty of investors have been unhappy about their municipal bond funds of late. During 2008, the average municipal bond mutual fund lost 7.7 percent, according to Morningstar. Then the funds recovered, gaining 12.0 percent during the first eight...

After the S&P 500 began sinking in 2000, some proponents of index funds criticized the most popular benchmark. The S&P 500 is too volatile, and, being cap weighted, is based on over-valued stocks, they said; so they set about finding better...

The Veteran

AGE: 70 POSITION: Chairman, Co-Founder, Grantham Mayo, Van Otterloo (GMO) LOCATION: Boston Education: University of Sheffield; Harvard Business School Until recently, the 70-year-old co-founder of institutional money manager, Grantham Mayo Van...

Socially responsible funds can be fraught with sector biases. That can be a good thing - or a bad thing