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What is important to you when selecting a Fund?

#1
What criteria to you use when selecting funds?
 
In my own case, I have a planned asset allocation (e.g., US Large Caps x%, Emerging Markets y%, Intermediate Bond Funds Z%, etc.). Then, for a given asset class, I may own one or more funds.  I will consider both mutual funds and ETFs.  I have a preference for low-cost passive index funds, but will consider low-cost active funds as well.
 
The general criteria I use in selecting funds to own are as follows:
 
1. Performance versus similar funds in the same asset class.  If one fund shows a continued deterioration versus another, I will favor the one that consistently does better.  However, if the performance seems to cycle, I might consider the one that is currently out of favor.
 
2. Expenses. I try to keep annual expenses low. No-Load mutual funds only. The acceptable annual expense level may depend on the particular asset class. Consider transaction costs.
 
3. Turnover. Funds with lower turnover will have lower "hidden" costs (transaction fees/ bid-ask spreads, etc.) that do not show up in the annual expenses. (You may find transaction cost information in the Statement of Additional Information  (SAI) for a fund).  Funds with high turn-over may also be more vulnerable to paying capital gains, which can result in costs in taxable accounts.  Note that most bond funds are generally going to have higher turn-over than equity funds (e.g., as bonds are replaced when they expire or are sold).
 
4. Manager tenure. Longer is usually better.  (But if there is a forthcoming change, the new manager may sell the old holdings and buy new holdings, resulting in higher turnover/capital gains.)
 
5. Size and liquidity (especially for ETFs). Bigger is generally better.  For ETFs, be careful about tracking error and premium/demium to Net Asset Value (NAV).
 
6. Tax-efficiency, especially in taxable accounts.   Be aware of potential Capital Gains Exposure.  Consider after-tax results.  ETFs are generally more tax-efficient than mutual funds, although there are some mutual funds that are tax-efficient.  (Vanguard's structure - where ETFs are another mutual fund class - helps allow some of their mutual funds to avoid capital gain distributions.) Note that some currency-hedged funds may potentially throw off the hedging benefits as ordinary income. (I personally prefer non-hedged equity funds as the currency volatility may provide buying/selling opportunities as I re-balance).
 
7. Longevity of a fund. I would not consider a fund without an adequate track record (e.g., 5 years).  Be wary of a fund has not gone through a particular cycle (e.g., economic downturn; interest rate increase).
 
8. Yield for bond funds.  But yield is not the only consideration. Credit Quality and Duration are equally important.  The particular sector exposure may also be important (e.g., energy, Russia).
 
9. Credit-quality for bond funds.  There has to be an adequate premium for lower quality (e.g., 5% higher yield for junk vs Treasuries). If an economic downturn is coming, higher yield bonds may be impacted significantly. Limit exposure to below-investment grade funds (say, to <15% of fixed income).
 
10. Duration for bond funds.  As interest rates rise, longer duration bonds may be negatively impacted - at least in the near term. (They may benefit if rates fall).
 
11. Leverage risk. I avoid funds which utilize leverage, as there may be risks that only become apparent when something goes wrong. (There may be others who do not mind taking this risk).
 
13. Closed End Fund premium/demium to NAV, but I do not personally use Closed End Funds.
 
14. Preferred Stock Funds have similar considerations to both equity and bond funds, but I do not personally use Preferred Stock funds.
 
 
Do you agree/disagree with my list? Do you have other factors to add to the list? 
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#2
It also has to fit my allocation need.  Many times though I find I have the right fund or ETF and just need to add to it.  Too many funds just messes things up. Google "three fund portfolio" if you want to see how simple some folks can get.
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#3
I use a subset of your criteria and give higher weightage on a few factors. Notable emphasis/addition/omissions in my criteria:
 
1. My default starting point is Vanguard. Since I generally stick to passive and broad index fund, there is at least one, sometimes more, ETFs available. I pick one of them and use the "Compare Fund" function to add similar funds, either from Vanguard or other big fund companies (iShare, SPDR, etc.). The various comparison metrics in this page give a good overview.
 
2. Expense ratio and turn-over cost (reflected in the "return after tax and distribution") are high emphasis point. I also double-check from the original prospectus to verify that the expense ratio does not include a temporary/promotional discount that'd expire. I was surprised with one such case where the expense ratio of an existing fund went up beyond my knowledge due to expiry of a promotional discount that I overlooked.
 
3. Long-term performance (5 and 10 year performance) are important for me. If I see major difference in short-term return, I attribute that to the fund composition and pay special attention to the uniqueness.
 
4. I check the diversity, number of holdings, sector allocation, country allocation, medial market-cap, weighted statistics (P/B, P/E, growth, etc.). All things being equal, I prefer funds with larger number of holdings. I also look for any important uniqueness in the fund holding. E.g., some international total stock funds may exclude small-caps, or certain countries.
 
5. Size and date of inception. Prefer bigger and older.
 
6. Generally avoid CEFs, load/redemption fee, leveraged funds, etc. Not very conversant with Bond funds - though I have a few short/intermediate term plain-vanilla from Vanguard.
 
Once I zone in on one or more funds, I do an internet search with the fund(s). At times there are insightful articles, mostly from seekingalpha, forbes, etc.
 
Barron's have occasional special report on ETFs or MFs that I find useful too, though I don't think I ever bought anything solely based on Barron's analysis/recommendation.
 
That's about it. Thankfully I do not need to do this often, unless for short-term tax-loss purpose.
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