November 09, 2010

Avoid Over-Diversifying Your Mutual Funds

While investing in mutual funds, do not diversify too much.

Already Diversified Enough

By definition, a mutual fund is already diversified!

Indeed, the fund manager buys different titles with money invested by all shareholders of the fund.

Some specialized funds are a little less diversified but in general, mutual funds are a well diversified investment vehicle.

Limit Yourself to a Couple Funds

It is not necessary to select a large number of funds for your portfolio. Three or four different funds should be sufficient to meet your needs. In some cases, a single fund may do a great job.

By opting for too many funds, you increase the risk that one or more of these will perform poorly, thereby reducing your portfolio’s performance.

Choose One Good Fund-Manager or Use ETFs

Because 80% of fund-managers don’t beat the market, it’s pretty tough to pick the good ones.

Then concentrate on choosing one good fund-manager that fits your investment style and that will meet your specific needs. We suggest choosing a manager that’s focuses on long-term investments rather than short-term ones.

If you are at ease with a fund-manager’s philosophy, trust him, he’s a specialist and will work to ensure that the fund is well diversified and performs well.

If it’s too difficult to choose your fund-manager or it takes too much of your time, buy one Exchange-Traded-Fund (ETF), it’s a great solution. Many ETFs offer great diversification by mimicking an exchange or an index and are cheaper to own than mutual funds.

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