Where to find information on mutual funds: from books to newsletters to disks, an open-end survey of the best mutual fund information sources available to investors

There is no dearth of information on mutual funds. There are books that will walk you through the intricacies of mutual funds, books that rate mutual funds each year, newsletters that will let you know which funds are hot, newspaper listings that track fund performance, and diskettes and websites that provide performance information. Here are some of the common sources for mutual fund information.

IFIC

Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) is the industry organization of Canadian mutual funds. It provides free brochures that explain mutual funds to beginning investors. You can get copies of its latest booklets by contacting IFIC, 151 Yonge St., 5th Floor Toronto, ON M5C 2W7. Phone (416) 363-2158. Fax (416) 861-9937.

Books on mutual funds

Several books are available for the beginning investor, such as Gordon Pape's Making Money in Mutual Funds. Books that explain mutual funds and evaluate them annually include Gordon Pape's Making Money in Mutual Funds., Ranga Chand's Getting Started with Mutual Funds, Jonathan Chevreau's Smart Funds, Duff Young's Top Funds and Steven Kelman's Understanding Mutual Funds. These books explain most of what you need to know about mutual funds. The 1998 editions of most of these books will be available (when published) from IAC at a discount.

Southam's Sourcebook

Sophisticated investors may also want to examine the Mutual Fund SourceBook by Southam.

This publication devotes a page per fund, giving detailed information about each fund. SourceBook also provides fund graphs that show how $100/month invested 10 years ago would have grown over the years.

Also included is a compound return quartile graph. Another interesting tidbit that SourceBook provides is a brief description of some of the key portfolio managers in the business.

A one-year subscription to Southam's quarterly SourceBook is $380.00 GST or $160.00 GST per single issue.

Tracking fund prices

Mutual fund prices are quoted on a daily basis in The Globe and Mail, The Financial Post and other newspapers. However daily tracking offers very little insight into the functioning of the fund.

Tracking fund performance

On the third week of every month The Globe and Mail and The Financial Post provide information on the performance of mutual funds over different time periods, generally one year, three years, five years, and 10 years.

Tracking performance on a year-by-year basis

As we noted earlier, it is not just the compound performance over the years that matters, but whether the fund has performed consistently. Twice a year, the two publications noted above list the performance of all funds on an annual basis for the previous 10 or more years.

Secondary sources

There are also a number of secondary sources that provide information on selected funds. For example, Money Digest lists the details of funds that performed well in different categories over the previous 12 months. There are other sources as well.

Mutual fund addresses and phone numbers

Southam's Mutual Fund SourceDisk and SourceBook provide the addresses and phone numbers of all the funds tracked. Another source is Money Digest's annual resource directory in the July issue. A limited number of copies of last year's directory are still available from us. The cost is $5 per copy ($12.95 for nonmembers), including GST and postage.

Mutual fund magazines and newsletters

Mutual Fund Guide is a quarterly magazine that carries articles and advice on mutual fund investments (416-480-9425). MPL communications (416-869-1177) publishes the Mutual Fund Reporter and Levi Folk and Richard Webb (416-504-7217) publish Fund Counsel. Fund Counsel is available at a discount to IAC members. See page 15 for details.

Mutual Fund Software

There are several sources that track mutual fund performance on disk. This has made the evaluation of mutual funds on a number of criteria such as long-term performance, performance in relation to market bench-marks, and performance in relation to other funds in a given category very easy to accomplish.

SourceDisk by Southam is the most extensive of the three. It covers the performance of more than 1,200 funds (going back 10 years). It provides the details of front and back-end loads, trailer fees, switching and charges, RRSP cancellation fees, and management fees. For more information, contact Southam Information Technology Group, 1450 Don Mills Road, Toronto, Ontario M3B 2X7. Phone (416) 442-2205. Fax (416) 442-2204.

PALTrak for Windows by Portfolio Analytics has the flexibility to create a portfolio covering several funds for `what-if' analysis. The program enables you to view selected columns of data for uncluttered viewing. PALTrak is available from Portfolio Analytics Limited, 194 Merton Street, Suite 401, Toronto, ON M4S 1A1. Phone (416) 489-7074; fax 485-6473.

Bell Charts offers easy navigation within the program, with both bar and icon menus and it has the facility to print two graphs on the same page for comparative analysis. The program calculates weighted and simple averages for selected funds. For more information, please contact Bell Charts, 60 St. Clair Ave. W., Suite 4, Toronto, Ontario M4V 1M7. Phone (416) 515-4757; fax 515-9750.