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In my mind Pepsi is the one true soda unlike the imposter in the red can.
When Pepsi introduced Pepsi AM in 1989 as a way to expand their line-up, I tried it…once. Yes, Pepsi AM and Pepsi came from the same company but these were two very different products and there was no way I was going to continue buying an inferior product simply because it had the same parent company as a product I still enjoyed.
Yet, this type of blind allegiance happens all the time in finance. Ask a broker at Investment House or Insurance Company “XYZ” to invest your money and chances are you will notice they purchased several “XYZ” mutual funds. Look at your IRA or 401k menu, how many of the funds are from the same company that is providing the IRA or 401k plan?
That’s not to say all funds from “XYZ” family of funds are bad, I just find it very unlikely that ALL of “XYZ” funds are the best in ALL categories (stocks, bonds, domestic, international, etc.).
It is more likely that fund family “XYZ” is good or even fantastic in some areas and average or even poor in other areas.
For example, according to Morningstar as of 3-31-13 all of the following mutual fund families had several funds that were rated 1 or 2 Stars (poor) and several funds that were rated 4 or 5 Stars (excellent).
This is YOUR money and YOUR retirement, don’t blindly follow a brand because you like one of their funds!
Note – This was just a quick scan and ratings do change so be aware.
- Aberdeen
- Alger
- AllianceBernstein
- Allianz
- American Beacon
- American Century
- American Funds
- AMF
- Artio
- Baron
- BlackRock
- BNY Mellon
- Brandes
- Brown Advisory
- Calamos
- Calvert
- Cambiar
- Cavanal Hill
- ClearBridge
- CNI Charter
- Cohen & Steers
- Columbia
- Davis
- Delaware
- DFA
- Diamond Hill
- Domini
- Dreyfus
- Dunham
- DWS
- Dynamic
- Eagle
- Eaton Vance
- Federated
- Fidelity Advisor
- Fidelity
- First Investors
- Forward
- Franklin
- Frost
- Gabelli
- GAMCO
- GE
- Glenmede
- GMO
- Goldman Sachs
- Guggenheim
- Hancock
- Harbor
- Hartford
- Henderson
- Hennessy
- Highland
- HighMark
- Hotchkis and Wiley
- ICON
- ING
- Intrepid
- Invesco
- Ivy
- Janus
- John Hancock
- JP Morgan
- Keeley
- Kinetics
- Lazard
- Legg Mason
- Litman Gregory
- Loomis Sayles
- Lord Abbett
- Madison
- MainStay
- Managers
- Manning & Napier
- Marsico
- MassMutual
- MFS
- Morgan Stanley
- Munder
- Mutual
- Nationwide
- Natixis
- Neuberger Berman
- Nomura
- Northern
- Nuveen
- Old Westbury
- Oppenheimer
- Optimum
- PACE
- Pacific Life
- Parametric
- Payden
- Pear Tree
- Penn Series
- Perkins
- PIMCO
- Pioneer
- PNC
- Praxis
- Principal
- ProFunds
- Prudential
- Putnam
- RBC
- RidgeWorth
- Royce
- RS
- Russell
- Rydex
- SAAT
- Saratoga
- Schwab
- SEI
- Sentinel
- Shelton
- Sit
- SSgA
- State Farm
- Sterling Capital
- Steward
- SunAmerica
- T. Rowe Price
- Target
- TCW
- Templeton
- TETON
- Thornburg
- Thrivent
- TIAA-CREF
- Tocqueville
- Touchstone
- Transamerica
- Tributary
- USAA
- VALIC
- Value Line
- Van Eck
- Vanguard
- Vantagepoint
- Victory
- Virtus
- Waddell & Reed
- Wasatch
- Wells Fargo Advantage
- Western Asset
- William Blair
- Wilshire
- Wright