About Michael A. Weiss, CFA Expertise I can provide high quality answers to questions about mutual funds domiciled in the United States. Overall, I have 15 years of investment experience. I am currently the Editor of <a href="http://www.mutualfundinvestor.net/">The Mutual Fund Investor</a>, a quarterly publication that provides recommendations and commentary on various no-load mutual funds. I am also currently the Chief Investment Officer of a state registered investment advisory firm that specializes in no-load mutual funds.
Experience Overall, I have 15 years of investment experience. I am currently the Editor of The Mutual Fund Investor, a quarterly publication that provides recommendations and commentary on various no-load mutual funds. To learn more about The Mutual Fund Investor, please visit <a href="http://www.mutualfundinvestor.net/">http://www.mutualfundinvestor.net/</a>. I am also currently the Chief Investment Officer of a state registered investment advisory firm that specializes in no-load mutual funds.My mutual fund experience began at a company called Lipper Analytical Services, where I researched and wrote about mutual funds. Lipper is one of the premier mutual fund research and ratings organizations. After Lipper, I worked as an investment analyst for Merrill Lynch’s multi-billion dollar Mutual Fund Advisor and Selects Programs. I also have experience working with individual stocks and bonds. I have managed investment portfolios for both Merrill Lynch Investment Managers as well as Evergreen Investments.<BR><BR><B>Organizations</B><BR>CFA Institute
CFA Society of Philadelphia
<BR><BR><B>Publications</B><BR>The Mutual Fund Investor
<BR><BR><B>Education/Credentials</B><BR>CFA charterholder
MBA in Finance and Investments from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College<BR>
Expert: Michael A. Weiss, CFA Date: 9/30/2007 Subject: Vanguard - 2002
Question Hi Michael,
I'm just about to dive into investing on my own. I'm probably going to have a lot of questions, so here's my first one.
I'm looking at a lot of the Vanguard funds, all of which took a huge dive in 2002. What happened that caused that?
A lot of them are preforming really well right now. Doesn't that mean its not necessarily the best time to buy into a fund?
Answer Hi Dave,
Thank you for the question. Vanguard wasn't the only mutual fund company to see its funds decline sharply in 2002. Most equity mutual funds experienced significant declines in 2002. Value and small-cap oriented mutual funds fared much better than growth funds, though. 2002 was somewhat of a continuation of the declines that started in 2000 when the technology bubble burst. The declines from 2000 to 2002 were primarily the result of excessive valuations (high prices), especially for technology stocks.
You are right in that equity mutual funds have performed well since 2002 and this may not be the best time to purchase some of these funds. Some areas of the market are over priced after performing so well over the past several years. In my opinion, emerging markets funds and small cap funds are overpriced and should be avoided, especially small-cap value funds. Small cap value presents somewhat of a conundrum as this has historically been the best performing major US asset class, but nonetheless prices are excessive in this area of the market. This is improving somewhat lately as small cap value has been terrible this year.
Please understand that I can not provide you with personalized investment advice, but with that said, I prefer large cap investments from developed countries at this point
There is a good tutorial on the Investopedia.com website about mutual funds that might answer some of your other questions. Here is the link:
