I do favor using one or few fund families, simply to reduce the volume of informative literature, prospectuses, etc in the mail. I have no desire to deforest America in pursuit of retirement. I have in actuality selected funds from different families. I look for opportunities to transfer business to families I already have other funds with. When Monetta disappointed some years ago, I moved that money to American Century Income&Growth(then Benham), where we had an account. Strong Common Stock has continued to exceed my expectations and is closed, (this helps a smallcap value fund stay that way) so I keep it. In '98 I will close a Janus account since it's available under Onesource.
I like the Vanguard group, actually, tho I don't follow it much. The micro expense ratios there give investors a big advantage. Were I to move to cash and start over, I'd consider any of the vanguard index funds (everything except SP500, for valuation reasons). The group has $3000 minimums for every type of acct, even Gift to Minors, which is a bit of a barrier to me. |
