Introducing Morningstar Fund Family Data Pages

When you’re selecting a fund, don’t forget to look at the fund company behind it. The fund company plays a big role in a fund’s long-term success because it supplies analyst research and traders to the manager, sets fees, institutes risk controls, and eventually chooses replacements for the current manager.

If you’ve narrowed the field of funds you’re considering buying to three funds that all have strong long-term performance and fit the portfolio need you’ve identified, step back and look at the fund shop. If they’ve done a good job with other funds in the same asset class, it’s a good sign that your fund will continue to perform well. If not, it could be that you found a fund that was merely lucky or will suffer a big let-down if the current manager leaves and is replaced by someone from the firm’s mediocre talent pool.

There’s a more practical reason to look at funds on a "fund family" basis. Many 401(k)s consist of funds from just one or two companies. If you own a load fund and you want to get out, you might be able to switch to another fund within that family without paying a load, so it’s sometimes a good idea to scrutinize the other funds within the same shop.

For these reasons and more, we’ve created Fund Family Data Pages. You can find data pages for any fund family by clicking on the "Funds" tab (found in the top nav bar on Morningstar.com) and selecting from the the drop-down menu on the left side of the page. You’ll find analysis by asset class, including a fund family score, which is an asset-weighted average of the star ratings for a firm by asset class. The drop-down menu is also located in the left margin of our Fund Family cover pages.

Snapshot Page
On the Snapshot page, you’ll find an array of aggregate data. On the top left, there is a graph and table that show the firm’s asset-weighted returns versus fund category averages that are weighted in the same proportions to show whether the firm outperformed or underperformed for the average investor. On the top right, we have an asset-class breakdown that shows fund family scores and the percentage of the company’s assets in each class. As you can see from PIMCO's scores, their taxable-bond funds are remarkable, but the other areas aren’t in that class. Just below that, you can see how the firm’s expenses stack up so that you can figure out where the best deals are.

Scrolling down, you’ll see a style box with numbers in it showing how many domestic-stock funds the firm has in each category. This can help shed light on the firm’s area of expertise. For example, Janus has most of its funds in large growth. If you click on one of the boxes, it takes you to a screening tool that lists all the funds from that category. This should be a big help if you know what category you’re interested in but can’t decide on a specific fund. To get a sense for where the firm is placing its bets, you can look at the aggregate sector data and top stock holdings, which are based on weighted averages of the underlying portfolios.

Beneath that, you'll find a list of all the funds in the family.

Picks & Pans/Best & Worst Pages
If you want to cut right to the chase, click on the tab at the top labeled Analyst Picks & Pans. You’ll see all of our favorite and least-favorite offerings from the fund company.

The next tab is also designed to speed along your process. The Best & Worst tab shows the funds ranked by five-year relative performance, expenses, and manager tenure. Check out the page for Fidelity and you’ll see that the Boston-based company has some very experienced managers at some funds, but others with tenures of only a few months. 

Whaddya Think?
I’d like to hear your take on these new pages. If you have suggestions or comments, please send them to russel_kinnel@morningstar.com.

Poll Results
On Monday, I wrote about hot funds you should bail out on. I asked which fund you would sell the fastest, and this is how you voted:

40%  Jacob Internet
32%  ProFunds Ultra Internet
14%  GenomicsFund
  8%  Amerindo Technology
  6%  RS Information Age