High-Performing Mutual Funds Re-Open for Your Money

Filed in archive Investing on February 20, 2008

I'm generally an optimist, in terms of thinking things are going to go well. However, when it comes to paying anyone money for anything, I am skeptical to the extreme. I think everyone is out to steal away my hard-earned cash. While some people/companies really are trying to steal my cash, this attitude is wrong often enough that overall I think it works to my detriment.

Case in point: Recently one of my mutual funds sent out their 2007 results statement and the fund didn't do so hot, even relative to the weak stock market of last year. Along with this statement of underperformance was a note that the fund would really really like me to invest more of my money in the fund, because the stock market's so lousy they see plenty of buying opportunities and need more cash to jump on them.

My first reaction to this was to think, why should I give you more of my money when you couldn't beat the market last year?

This is dumb, because this fund over time has beaten the market. And, yes, the big 2008 downswing in the market IS a buying opportunity. And yet my BS detector automatically saw this as a shyster trying to get his money in my pocket.

I'm ashamed to say that I didn't even realize my stupidity until I read Selena Maranjian's article today on mutual funds that have re-opened to investors after having previously been closed. One of the funds mentioned is the one I've been talking about. This, in my mind, is the telling excerpt in the article:

When a fund closes, that's often a good thing, suggesting that the managers have more cash than good investment ideas. (Less prudent managers will just find investments for the money, even if they're not top-shelf ones.) A fund reopening may signal that managers see lots of good ideas and want to deploy more cash into them.

Oh, yeah, that's right. I chose that fund because it had a history of performing well and using its money wisely. And when they told me there were buying opportunities to be had, all I could think was "What have you done for me lately?"

Lesson: Be skeptical, but be open. Otherwise you'll miss out. (And I would add that this is true in all aspects of your life, not just your financial life.)