Is investment co. of america a good mutual fund?

Question

I go through Edward Jones if anyone has a comment on them as well.

Answer 1

Okay let's start with American Funds which is who runs ICA. AF is an awesome fund company for a couple of reasons. One they are a private company which means they only answer to their MF holders. Unlike a company like Fidelity which is a good company also but they are owed by stock holders. In the long run the company that only answers to you the MF holder is going to look out for your best interest and returns more diligently. They also have some of the lowest annual fees to maintain an account of any MF company. All that being said, depending on your situation ICA may or may not be good for you. You need a competent advisor to help you with that. I would be cautious with ICA as it is one of the largest MF in the world. They may seem like a good thing but it actually can be bad. It means it has much less flexibility to move its money around when condititon warrant it. As far as EJ goes, they hire people on average who have very little experience in the industry, so at a minimum make sure your rep has a lot of experience and didn't just start last month at this. They also have agreements with companies like American Funds where their reps get a bigger commission to them then they do with other products. The concern being your advice from EJ might be tainted by the reps desire to get more commission. You need to work with an independant rep to assist you with you decisions. One who will give you all the information and doesn't have a hidden agenda. If you want to send me email and tell me what state you're in I probably could refer you to a couple. Good luck.

Answer 2

Different aspects of Mutual Funds (MF) are touted as "best" this or "best" that, but the end result is generally the same: 90% of them can't beat the index they purport to follow because of their fees; generally 2% to 2.5%.

Why would anyone pay someone you know nothing about when most can't outperform the market? If you don't manage your own investments and turn that responsibility over to someone else, how do you sleep at night?

Why would you pay someone you don't know to do something you can do yourself? Just buy the Diamonds (the DJIA ETF) if you want to let it ride on the Dow, or the Spyders (SPY - the S&P 500 ETF), or the Nasdaq (QQQQ), or diversify across the entire market by buying all three. The ETF's trade just like a stock or MF. At the very least, you will match the index and perform better than 90% of all MF's.

A MF is always "in" the market, so you are at the mercy of the ups and downs of the Dow. Since you don't manage your risk, you can't put a Protective Stop at say 10%, to lock in your profits when the market goes down. Since you spend more time watching TV, or more time deciding the color of your new car, than you do on learning how to manage money, you don't have a clue what's going to happen. That is not my idea of investing.

What you seem to be asking concerning a "good" MF is one that makes money, or has a positive return at the end of the year.

My opinion of where the market will be in one year doesn't matter. The market is a living thing that does what it wants, and will go where it wants, when it wants. Nobody knows these things. Your question seems to interject that somebody has "The Answer."

MF's are so 20th Century. Relics of the past. Unneccessary. Buy an ETF.

Answer 3

This is really a great place to get your investment advice! Do you use a dart board to pick your stocks?

Answer 4

I don't agree with the teddy bear guy. Sometimes you can get good advice here and even if you don't it dosen't hurt to ask. But anyway in response to your question 'I don't know'