Take a Look At Risk Factor
Legendary investor Warren Buffett says risk results from putting money in stocks that are not among the best. It is not important how big a portfolio your plan has, instead how many of them are the best of the stocks. For example, a prospectus may tell you they invest in 50 stocks for a particular plan. But you can easily say not more than half of them are fundamentally good.
Don't Ignore Expenses
Every fund charges some kind of fees/loads to cover expenses. Then there are taxes to pay in most of the cases. Typical average expense charged by fund managers is 1.5% though there are funds that charge you as low as 0.2% also. Even 1.5% might appear a small figure but it could make a big difference to you over a long invested period even if you had invested as little as $ 10,000. (Find out a fund's expense ratio at Yahoo! Finance Quote Box).
Track the Track Record of Companies
To check mutual funds The shortest time frame you should check for is three year period. As mutual funds are long
term investments, it is better to stick to a fund (plus its manager) that has shown consistent performance over long periods (a ten years time is the benchmark). A hot performance of a quarter or a year may suck investors who chase them but even for a short term investment, it is advisable that long term track records are important.
Who Is Managing Your Fund
Finally taking a look at the fund's manager should tell you why the fund is performing as it had. If a fund has a new manager at the helm of affairs after a strong five year performance, it is something to be cautious. Not that you should refrain from that company. Digging deeper into his historical abilities at managing funds throws light on his track record as a fund manager (to find a manager's history click on the Profile tab on the Yahoo! Finance Mutual Fund Quote Page).
There are times when you come out winners even with blind investing. But it pays to do a thorough research even in a bull market before investing.
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