Which funds should I select for my 401K

[Mcgrupp]

I know their is a similar topic below, but I had specific funds in mind and just wanted to see if anybody here could give advice on what funds to invest in for my 401K. I am about 40 years for retirement and want to be aggressive with my approach right now but I am wary about how the economy is doing just like everyone else.

My company matches .48 cents on the dollar up to 6% of my gross salary so I am starting with that for now. It's my choice to contribute in 1% increments divided among the available funds. I don't know if any of the fees/expense stats are of use in you helping me make any decisions, but I figured I'd post them anyway (in parentheses).

Here are the available funds:

1)Western Asset Institutional Govt. Money Market Fund (.23)
2)Bear Stearns Intermediate Bond Fund (.2)
3)JP Morgan SmartRetirement Fund 2040 (.65)
4)UBS S&P 500 Index Fund (.025)
5)Montag & Caldwell Large Cap Growth Fund (.6)
6)Legg Mason Value Trust Fund (.69)
7)American Century Small Cap Value Fund (.85)
8)Barclays Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund (.04)
9)Julius Baer International Equity Fund (.94)

I have plenty of other info on the funds but wanted to hear outside opinion on what fund(s) I should concentrate my money. Thanks.

[johnnyLite]

I would think consentrating on the funds like Russell 2000 Growth Index, AC Small Cap Value, M&C Large Cap Growth, would be the most aggressive. I have not looked into any of those funds in detail, but that would be my place to start looking.

[aiki14]

I know their is a similar topic below, but I had specific funds in mind and just wanted to see if anybody here could give advice on what funds to invest in for my 401K. I am about 40 years for retirement and want to be aggressive with my approach right now but I am wary about how the economy is doing just like everyone else.

My company matches .48 cents on the dollar up to 6% of my gross salary so I am starting with that for now. It's my choice to contribute in 1% increments divided among the available funds. I don't know if any of the fees/expense stats are of use in you helping me make any decisions, but I figured I'd post them anyway (in parentheses).

Here are the available funds:

1)Western Asset Institutional Govt. Money Market Fund (.23)
2)Bear Stearns Intermediate Bond Fund (.2)
3)JP Morgan SmartRetirement Fund 2040 (.65)
4)UBS S&P 500 Index Fund (.025)
5)Montag & Caldwell Large Cap Growth Fund (.6)
6)Legg Mason Value Trust Fund (.69)
7)American Century Small Cap Value Fund (.85)
8)Barclays Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund (.04)
9)Julius Baer International Equity Fund (.94)

I have plenty of other info on the funds but wanted to hear outside opinion on what fund(s) I should concentrate my money. Thanks.

I do not invest in mutual funds, so I can't help you pick, but I will say, with 40 yrs to retirement you should not be in Bonds or Moneymarkets at all.

[Pinguin]

How about the 3 mo, 6 mo, 1 yr, 3, yr, 5 yr, and inception returns for each fund? This would keep me from looking each one up.

[Keventerprises]

I do not invest in mutual funds, so I can't help you pick, but I will say, with 40 yrs to retirement you should not be in Bonds or Moneymarkets at all.

I'd like to invest in Mutual of Aiki. What sort of load cost is involved? :adore:

[wallstreetsedge]

i wouldnt really recommend mutuals because you cant really find any that are no load and you definitely dont want to start with a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6% handicap..

if youre looking to stay conservative...a good site you can use is www.etfconnect.com

id say go with exchange traded funds instead. they carry no loads, management expenses are a lot cheaper, and there is only the basic commission that your broker charges.

there is a closed end mutual i like, they buy into corporate bonds with great companies like mgm mirage, ford, general motors, etc... the symbol is HYB, currently yields about 12.5%

depending where you live, i would definitely say pick up shares of a local muni bond fund and make sure its insured

most institutions are looking to get involved in co's outside of the us... mainly india, china, japan, and brazil so look for a few global etf's, asian etf's, and if you can find a foreign currency etf that would be great too

also depending on who your 401k manager works with, definitely ask about structured products

[madcowdisease]

I know their is a similar topic below, but I had specific funds in mind and just wanted to see if anybody here could give advice on what funds to invest in for my 401K. I am about 40 years for retirement and want to be aggressive with my approach right now but I am wary about how the economy is doing just like everyone else.

My company matches .48 cents on the dollar up to 6% of my gross salary so I am starting with that for now. It's my choice to contribute in 1% increments divided among the available funds. I don't know if any of the fees/expense stats are of use in you helping me make any decisions, but I figured I'd post them anyway (in parentheses).

Here are the available funds:

1)Western Asset Institutional Govt. Money Market Fund (.23)
2)Bear Stearns Intermediate Bond Fund (.2)
3)JP Morgan SmartRetirement Fund 2040 (.65)
4)UBS S&P 500 Index Fund (.025)
5)Montag & Caldwell Large Cap Growth Fund (.6)
6)Legg Mason Value Trust Fund (.69)
7)American Century Small Cap Value Fund (.85)
8)Barclays Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund (.04)
9)Julius Baer International Equity Fund (.94)

I have plenty of other info on the funds but wanted to hear outside opinion on what fund(s) I should concentrate my money. Thanks.

I think that post you were referring to "below" was mine ;). It seems you and I are in a similar situation. We wish to take advantage of the employer match but are left with a dearth of quality choices. All I can offer, without copious research of your choices, is what I decided to do. I opted to go foreign and go smallcap. This was all prior to the recent precipitous selloff, but it appears domestic large caps will simply benchmark most indexes, and most indexes will barely keep up with inflation. Of the choices I had in my 401(k) I felt European, or anything foreign, as well as small and mid-cap non-index funds were the best choices.

Simply going off the names of your funds I think you could toss out the first 4. The first two are Bond or MoneyMarket funds which are more for capital preservation rather than growth. The third one is a targeted date fund which most would agree are less than optimal. They switch there asset allocation and investment mix the closer they get to that date (e.g. from stocks to bonds in layans terms). The fourth I is an index fund which simply is meant to benchmark the S&P500. You could buy SPDRS and theorhetically get the same performance without the management fees. Number 5 is one of a slew of large cap growth funds out there. My belief is your money could return more if you take more risk and send it overseas or in to the small cap arena. I couldn't find info on number 6 and number 8 is another index fund where you could simply the Russel 2000. However, number 8 may be a good pick over the next 18 months since the low interest rate environment should be favorable for small caps. That leaves us with two offerings left, 7 & 9. 7 will invst in small cap companies, those with a market capitalization of between $300 million and $2 billion, and the value aspect means these companies have a lower multiple than the money manager feels is appropriate. Assuming they do their due diligence and the company isn't going under most of their picks should be on the safer side and have the potential to increase substantially. And number 9 invests outside the USA so if the theory of Rest of World holds it should grow faster than domestic choices.

Ergo, if you wanted to be extremely aggressive you could pitch 7 of your 9 picks and plow your money in to American Century Small Cap Value Fund and Julius Baer International Equity Fund. Sorry I don't have better news for you but this is the nature of employer chosen 401(k) offerings. They often leave much to be desired.

Good luck.

[Keventerprises]

What do you all know or think about the following funds:

Focus Fund (FBRVX) It's a no load bought directly or through Ameritrade at current net asset value, currently around $50.00 per share.

Amerivest 2020 Target Date Fund. No load with a minimal .75% annual cost. Allocated in 15 ETF's diversified among 30 Sectors and industries, both international and domestic.

Contra Funds? Apparently specialize in Short selling stocks. Sounds good for the last month. Any input?

What funds do you like that will yield 20%+ consistently?