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C6 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, August 9, 2000 Business An Oakville Beaver Feature To advertise in this section call 845-3824 Fax:845-5516 --------------------- ,------------------------------------------------------------- m . . . SAILING INTO THE SUNSET Karen and Bill Craig of Burlington decided to top oft their wedding day last Friday with a romantic evening boat cruise, which included cham pagne and wed ding cake aboard Maestro, a boat complete with sax-playing skip per Don Singular of Don's Yacht Charter and Scenic Boat Tours of Bronte. Photo by Ron Kuzyk Make an informed decision w hen investing your m oney When it comes to picking the best mutual fund to invest in, you are between a rock and a hard place. Research done at Princeton University on all funds in the United States discovered just how hard it is to pick the best mutual funds. During the 1980s and 1990s, if you invested in an aboveaverage fund, there was only a 52% chance that the fund would be above average the next year. That was not always the case. In the 1970s, investing in an above average fund gave you a 65% chance of being above average the next year. A study also done south of the border by Morningstar, a Chicago-based fund research firm, provided the same basic results. Starting in 1987, an investor would have been considerably better off to start the year by selling last year's most popular fund categories and buy ing the least popular. The results were quite remarkable. The least popular equity funds beat the average equity fund during the next one-, two- and three-year periods 76% of the time. They beat the most popular funds 82% of the time. Morningstar did the same type of research in Canada, and predictably, the results were similar. So times have changed. In the past, all you had to do was seek out the best and the brightest managers and they would continue to reward you with good investment returns. But that was then and now is now. Past suc cess does not equate to future success. So, when you read about funds boasting of their excellent recent returns, it should be a warn ing sign to you that their continued success is somewhat doubtful. Your decision of what to PETER WATSON Dollars & Sense invest in the future is not as easy as just buying into a previously successful fund. How do you make informed investment deci sions? Take a broader approach to investing ver sus just trying to pick last year's "hot fund." First, start by deciding how to allocate your portfolio between the major assets categories like stocks and bonds. Research provided by many sources consistent ly shows that in excess of 90% of your portfolio return can be determined by the asset categories invested, not by the specific securities invested in. Make sure you diversify. That will lessen the impact of a good long-term investment underperforming in the short-term. And, lastly, don't be afraid to pick a high qual ity but out-of-favour fund. You may have to wait awhile, but the research indicates that you have a greater likelihood of reaping future benefits than if you purchase last year's top funds. Keep in mind that neither you nor your advi sor are able to consistently pick the top-perform ing funds to invest in. Long-term financial suc cess requires you to focus on the basics of finan cial planning such as diversification and to some times ignore short-term under performance. An interactive conference with proven approaches th a t are key to managing th e dem ands o f w ork and family Friday, September 15, 2000 8:00 a.m. --4:00 p.m. Toronto Centre for the Arts 5040 Yonge Street, Toronto (just north o f Sheppard Ave.) NEW BABY? F o r f r e e i n f o r m a t i o n a n d g if t s . CALL 1. 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