The Investor's Dilemma : How Mutual Funds Are Betraying Your Trust and What to Do about It

Over 90 million individuals, in 55 million households, own mutual funds. But while one in every two households has entrusted their life savings to these funds, the industry has betrayed their trust. Intent on gathering ever more assets, fund families spew out new funds 600 in just two years while existing funds flip stocks and even managers, with a calloused indifference to your welfare. It works, at least for the fund families. And thanks to an intensive marketing initiative, some of them now have as much as $1 trillion under management. That s why Louis Lowenstein has written The Investor s Dilemma: How Mutual Funds Are Betraying Your Trust and What to Do About It. Based on fresh, cutting edge research by a leading corporate critic, this book reveals how highly overpaid fund sponsors really operate, using, for example, narrow benchmarks that will make even a mediocre fund look good. Step by step, Lowenstein walks you through the conflicts of interest, and even outright theft, giving the reader an inside look at some of the best known fund groups. Happily, Lowenstein also takes a direct, hands on look at a representative group of tried and true value funds that have demonstrated a commitment to their investors welfare. Instead of proliferating new funds every few months and diluting the results for those already there, this select group invests with patient research, holding their choices for years at a time and investing their dollars alongside yours. Along the way, Lowenstein discusses the important factors to look for when picking a stock fund. To illustrate the process, he analyzes two representative funds that are not too large and still open to new investors. Even as this book shines a harsh light on much of what is wrong with the mutual fund industry, it also helps illuminate the brighter corners of today s investment environment. Written in an engaging and informative style, The Investor s Dilemma skillfully examines the real problems within the world of mutual funds and outlines a value oriented approach to this market that will allow you to achieve investment success.