I have been dealing with the brokerage industry for over 10 years and during that period I have found many instances that mutual funds were excellent recommendations for clients. Those days are essentially over. I know you are aware of ETF's. These are exchange traded funds. The advantage of ETF's over mutual funds is clear to me. I am sure there is someone who sells mutual funds who would disagree.

By far the single most important feature of mutual funds is that the investor receives immediate diversification even with a smaller capital base. This is also available with a selection of ETF's. In the days when commissions were in the hundreds of dollars per transaction, there could be an argument for long term lower commissions. Clearly that no longer exists. The fees for management in mutual funds are too high relative to performance that only rarely would exceed the market or sector. ETF's have dramatically lower fees. The fact that mutual funds are bought or sold only after the market close is one of the most significant differences between mutual funds and ETF's. ETF's are sold real time during market hours as the investor chooses. In a declining market you can switch your mutual funds into cash. In ETF's you can do that but you also can short them giving you the opportunity to capitalize on the market decline.

ETF's are new and a reasonable amount of education is important. You can search for ETF and you will find hundreds of sites. You can create your own asset allocation with ETF's that you have an instantaneously revise.

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