Many people hold the belief that a mutual fund is the only “safe” way for an individual to invest beyond the typical savings accounts and CD’s offered by their local bank. This belief is no doubt due to the success enjoyed by mutual funds throughout the 1990’s, when all of the stock market benefited from the huge bull market that was driven by the tech sector. Ironically, though, just as mutual funds have soared in popularity, they have also peaked in performance, and over the last few years most have seen an astonishing lack of overall success.So the intrepid investor goes off in search of the perfect mutual fund, only to find that there is a bewildering array of funds to choose from, and an overwhelming number of factors to consider when making that decision. Some people will forge ahead and make a decision on a mutual fund, while others will decide to go to the next level and start looking for investments that give them more control, and hopefully greater returns.
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