SMAs Beat Mutual Funds In 2008 As Well

Last year, mutual funds really took it on the chin. Besides bleeding historic levels of assets, the industry also recorded huge outflows of investment dollars. 

Now, according to this report by Dow Jones Newswires' Ian Salisbury, higher-priced separately managed accounts beat the average mutual fund in 2008 in terms of performance.

You can read the story here.

Mutual Funds Better Than ETFs?

In his latest column at MarketWatch.com, Chuck Jaffe makes a case why mutual funds aren't going away anytime soon—and throws in why they'll continue to be more popular than exchange-traded funds. 

"And while exchange-traded funds have some cost and liquidity advantages, they're trading vehicles bought and sold on commission, which makes them an expensive choice for the small guy trying to set money aside on a regular basis," he writes. 

Jaffe adds: "Moreover, according to investment researcher Morningstar Inc., since the first ETF was launched in 1989, the ETF industry collectively has produced a net loss for investors, meaning that all the trading has generated profits only for the management firms."

You can read the column here.

Warning About Quantitative Analysis

Veteran columnist Paul Farrell has another entertaining piece at MarketWatch.com that cautions investors about quant-based methodologies. 

Here's his lead: "Warning: Quants, the grand magicians of the illusionary arts of neuroeconomics, behavioral finance, investment psychology and the 'new science of irrationality,' are working with Wall Street in a massive conspiracy to scam America's 95 million investors."

(We left out the bold part ... sorry to cut down on the dramatics.)

You can read his column here. 

Dumb Luck As Market Rebounds

In this amusing column in today's Wall Street Journal, Evan Newmark explains how he's jumped into exchange-traded funds. His latest, buying into a leveraged financials ETF last Friday, was just dumb luck, according to the writer.

You can read the story here.