Mutual Funds

Introduction I cannot count the number of times an investor has sat across from me, drawn to a bond mutual fund by its enticing yield, only to be completely unaware of the single most important metric that defines its risk profile: its average maturity. We fixate on the income a fund generates, often overlooking the […]

In my years of analyzing equity portfolios, I have found that a mutual fund’s average market capitalization is its most telling characteristic—a single metric that reveals more about its risk profile, growth potential, and behavior than almost any other. Yet, most investors focus solely on the fund’s name or its recent performance, missing this fundamental

Throughout my career, I have reviewed countless investment statements, and one line item continues to generate more confusion than almost any other: the load charge. It is not a management fee, nor is it an expense ratio. It is a sales commission, a one-time fee paid for the transaction of buying or selling a fund.

In my analysis of investment vehicles, I am often asked about longevity. While investors focus on performance and fees, they rarely consider the mortality of the fund itself. A mutual fund is not a perpetual entity; it is a product with a lifecycle. Its existence hinges on a delicate balance of profitability, performance, and investor

In the intricate world of fixed income investing, leverage is the silent force that can transform a conservative portfolio into a powerful engine for returns—or a magnifier of devastating losses. Unlike the explicit borrowing in a margin account, leverage in a bond fund is often embedded, complex, and misunderstood. As someone who has analyzed countless

In the search for yield, especially in environments where interest rates seem anchored at low levels, investors and fund managers often turn to a powerful and dangerous tool: leverage. The use of borrowed money to amplify returns is a concept as old as finance itself, but its application within the seemingly staid world of bond

I have sat with clients, reviewing statements from funds that boast impressive long-term track records, only to see the reality of their personal returns tell a different, more disappointing story. They feel a unique sense of frustration—one born not from a market crash, but from a perceived personal failure. “The fund was up 12% a

In my career analyzing investment portfolios for endowments, foundations, and high-net-worth families, I have gained access to a world of investing that is often hidden from the retail public: the institutional share class. When individuals hear the term “average expense ratio,” they typically think of the retail funds they see advertised, with fees ranging from

In my practice, I spend a great deal of time discussing what to buy and sell. But I often find the question of how long to hold is far more revealing of an investor’s ultimate success. The average holding period for a mutual fund is not a dry statistic; it is a window into the

I have spent my career analyzing performance data, and few questions are as perennial as this one. A new investor, eager to grow their capital, will inevitably confront a fundamental choice: should they try to pick a winning mutual fund managed by seasoned professionals, or should they simply buy the entire market through a low-cost