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From: tut@sun.uucp (Bill Tuthill)
Newsgroups: net.invest
Subject: Business Week's Mutual Fund Survey
Message-ID: <3298@sun.uucp>
Date: Thu, 27-Feb-86 21:03:14 EST
Article-I.D.: sun.3298
Posted: Thu Feb 27 21:03:14 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Mar-86 17:39:17 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Lines: 36

The February 24th issue of Business Week contains a pretty bad
survey of mutual funds.  I wouldn't recommend buying the issue
just for the survey.  Their list of the 24 "Top Performers"
contains fully 15 (count 'em, fifteen) funds that returned an
average of under 20% a year over the last ten years.  With all
the good mutual funds around, you shouldn't have to put up with
this kind of lousy performance.  Among the low-performers were
Vanguard's perennially pathetic Wellesley and Wellington funds
(with 10-year averages of 14.1% and 14.6% respectively), and the
Federated Stock & Bond fund (with a 14.3% average).  Business
Week completely missed good long-term performers such as 20th
Century Select and Evergreen, and good shorter-term performers
such as Century Shares and Quasar.

Here is an abbreviated list taken from Business Week of only the
mutual funds averaging 20% or better over ten years:

			10yr%	3yr%	1yr%	load	expenses
Acorn			23.7	19.7	31.4	none	 .78%
Am. Cap. Comstock	22.4	11.8	21.3	8.5%	 .58%
Am. Cap. Pace		26.8	13.2	22.4	8.5%	 .62%
Fidelity Equity-Income	22.6	21.3	25.0	2.0%	 .69%
Fidelity Magellan	34.2	26.8	42.9	3.0%	1.10%
Guardian Park Avenue	21.6	24.4	33.0	8.5%	 .78%
Nicholas		23.9	20.9	29.7	none	 .90%
OTC Securities		24.7	22.4	35.4	8.0%	1.28%
Partners		21.5	18.7	29.8	one	 .93% + 12(b)-1

The American Capital Pace used to be a good fund, but has really
fallen off lately.  A 1985 return of only 22.5% isn't very stunning.
Fidelity's OTC and Overseas funds both did better than 60% in 1985.

Lindner, Mutual Shares, Sequoia, Vanguard Windsor and QDSP-I would
be on the list, except they are closed to new accounts.

Bill Tuthill