Over 38 million Americans are mutual funds investors. Have they become tired of reading bad news about their investments? With recent newsstand sales off almost 35% and ad revenues down 80% over the last four years, Time announced a few weeks ago it was ceasing publication of Mutual Funds magazine. The announcement comes on the heels of 13-year old Individual Investor magazine folding last July. These two financial magazine are just a couple of the latest casualties of the recession in the magazine industry. According to Publishers Information Bureau, overall magazine advertising pages are down almost 10% for the year-to-date. The largest drop has been in technology-related ads - down 30% followed by financial, insurance and real estate ads - down 23%. The last issue of Mutual Funds magazine is the current November '02 issue – still available on newsstands.

Magazine History - Publisher

With so many choices of mutual funds and mutual fund families, my husband and I early in our marriage sometimes felt overwhelmed with financial decision making. Often we procrastinated too long before investing in a mutual fund and then with dips in price, debated whether we made the right decision. Back then we were also less knowledgeable about investing in general. When the Institute of Economic Research launched Mutual Funds magazine in 1994, my family decided to become a charter member. The magazine guaranteed charter members that their subscription would always remain at $9.99 as long as they continued renewing. We figured the magazine would be a good source of information to help us make financial decisions concerning mutual fund investing where most of our money was then going. We have been reading every issue since the magazine was launched. Times took over publication in 1998. Over the 8 years we have been readers, we have noticed many changes in the magazine.

Circulation, General Content

Mutual Funds magazine is a monthly publication with a circulation this year of 843,000 readers. Magazine pages focus mainly on the mutual fund industry. Issues contain features, news bites, ratings and reviews. Each year, the magazine publishes an Annual Special Issue - Fund Buyer’s Guide where 1,763 funds are graded. Online tools were available to analyze your portfolio on the Website.

Since the beginning of this year, the magazine has placed a greater emphasis on overall investment success, planned investment and financial planning. Plan, invest, succeed became the new tagline. The new focus and new tagline weren’t enough to improve the bottom line due to the continued poor economy, lower corporate earnings and global political tensions on top of the recent increases of postal rates for magazines. Back in January '01 there was almost a 10% increase followed in June by another increase of 2.6%

Writers, Writing Style

Mutual Funds writers are all experts in their fields. Some are Certified Financial Planners, research analysts/directors, fund managers or business reporters; others are professional financial writers and authors of books on finance. Writers write in a lively way. Articles are interesting, educational and easy to understand.

Website

The magazine Website, www.mutual-funds.com is no longer available. If you try to link to it you will reach www.money.cnn.com, an excellent Website with plenty of financial information, news, special reports and articles. You don’t have to be a subscriber of Money magazine to access information. Money magazine, by the way, will cover the remainder issues for those Mutual Funds subscribers not already Money magazine subscribers – good choice!

Covers, Ads, Photography

Photography pays a small role in this financial magazine. Most covers contained only content headings with, perhaps, some clip art illustration. The magazine’s content sells issues. In the Nov '02 issue, about 34% of the 92 magazine pages are ad pages. This, however, doesn’t count the additional unnumbered 12-page special advertising section in the middle of the magazine. Most ads are for financial products and services.

Articles are illustrated with drawing, clip art, graphs or charts that make the magazine more reader friendly. It lacks the good photography found in other financial magazines. Photographs, when they do appear, are small ones of mainly financial leaders. Sometimes there is a photo of a reader who sends in a question.

Organization – Table of Contents, Magazine Layout

The Table of Contents appears on two pages separated by ad pages. The magazine is now laid out more clearly, neatly and more conveniently than previously arranged. It is basically now organized into Departments and Features.

In every issue, readers can find a handy Fund (& Stock) Index, an alphabetical listing of the first significant reference to a fund or stock in each article. Included is contact information for the funds mentioned. Your Letters are interesting correspondence from some very smart readers who never fail to chastise magazine writers when they feel a need to correct them about some point. Our First Word is the interesting Managing Editor’s letter. In it he discusses timely topics of interest concerning mutual fund investing as they relate to inside articles such as fund fees, shell shock investors and fund selection. Our Last Word is a one-page department that ends issues – usually with humor. Often there is a funny cartoon to chuckle over and enjoy. Readers are given a brief concise listing of items to act on or review, some new topics to look forward in future issues and other topics to consider.

Over the years the rest of the departments have changed and evolved. Each of these now contains several articles under each heading. Foresight is a quick read department with multiple brief bites about investor news and trends. It covers such topics as the next market leaders, rising fees on money funds, merging stock funds and new mutual funds. Find out which fund families perform the best or the worst, which funds are raising fees and which funds are closing to new investors or re-opening. There are regular articles about opportunities for sector investing and the signals to watch. There is always up-to-date information on the technology industry with news of the most useful Websites, new software and tech tools. The short reads are always interesting to read and understand.

Smart Choices is another quick read department. There are short articles about undiscovered good mutual funds, behind the scene news about mutual fund managers or mutual funds, current attractive bargains in stocks, highlights of one favorite stock and a grouping of a few hot stocks with staying power. We’ve gotten some good tips here in the past. Buy, Sell, Hold gives expert advice to readers in a Q & A format. The answers come from Certified Financial Planners and the advice is always financially sound. I learn a lot from the answers provided. Questions are about specific mutual funds. Advice is outdated quickly, though, since it is based on current mutual fund performances.

Investor’s Databank has market analysis and commentary. Get an overview of the market’s recent performance, market insight into the changes and a mutual fund category scorecard. See at a glance how various sectors are performing with a spotlight on one sector. Get the best bond and money market yields. We used the information found here several years ago to purchase a money market fund, which continues to give the best yield in its category. Read about the forces moving the market today and where we are headed next.

Financial Planning department always has excellent articles on the general financial topics of retirement, cutting taxes and managing your wealth. The current November issue has a terrific piece on handling your parents’ finances. I think the information found here is sound but perhaps not as detailed as information found in other top financial magazines.

Finally Best in Class is an analysis each month of the best mutual funds in different categories such as Growth - Large, Midcap, Small - Balance, International, Value and Global to name a few. At a glance, readers can find the best performing funds in the different categories. However, remember that past performance is no indication of future success. Two detailed fund reviews follow the one page listing each month.

Features

Each issue contains four features. Most are very interesting, fairly in-depth coverage of a variety of topics. They are easy to read and understand. All are relevant to buyers of mutual funds. Some inform readers about how to find a good financial planner and offer a listing of the best 100 according to geographic area. Some give basic information on the fundamentals of investing and some opportunities for advanced investors. One recent example of this type of feature is called “16 Steps To Become a Fund Genius” (Aug '02.) It’s a Bonus Pullout Section. It is worth trying to find it at your local library; I couldn’t find it Online. Others are about a particular sector that may be surging such as past articles on utility stocks, energy, healthcare and consumer staples. Finally, some are report cards on funds in the various categories or perhaps about one particular category or family of funds.

My impressions

I am not too sorry to see Mutual Funds magazine fold. I was beginning to tire of all the same kinds of articles each month. I found that issues were sitting around for weeks before I read them. I was losing interest. Only the low charter price of $9.99 kept me from not renewing up to now, plus the knowledge that over the years we had made substantial use of information we read here.

Once we invest, we prefer to hold on to our mutual funds. Only when our funds performed poorly for several quarters did we consider selling. So, now we were less interested in seeking out new funds. And because we are approaching retirement now, we have started to put new money into more secure, income-producing investments. Our portfolio is now much more diversified with different types of investments besides mutual funds. We want broader, different financial information. Our goals have changed.

I think using a financial planner is the best source for specific financial advice on investing. A magazine has no way of knowing if what it is recommending to all readers is right for you and your family’s situation. The investment may be a good one-just not proper for you. Consider the recommendations found inside these issues and in other financial magazines for general informational purposes only. Do not rely on the magazine’s recommendations as the sole basis for making an investment. Many people consult the ratings and go out and buy the hottest, most successful funds. In other words, they are buying the fund at the top. When the fund goes down, investors become disillusioned and get out usually near the bottom. You won’t make any money doing this. Do your own research. Verify the information - sometimes magazine made errors that aren't corrected for a couple of months. Then consult your own financial planner who knows your financial picture, your investment goals and your tolerance for risk.

With the slower shaky economy we find we are relying more on our financial planner for shifting around our mutual fund investments. Previously we felt confident investing ourselves with help from the magazine – everything seemed to be doing well back then. Besides, with much more up to date information on mutual fund performance now readily available for research Online at Morningstar and elsewhere, we had less need for the print version of the magazine.

Just be sure that the information online that you want has been updated – some sites only update certain information daily. Like all monthly financial magazines remember the specific information found inside Mutual Funds magazine is dated by the time the magazine appears on newsstands.

For all the above reasons, last month I decided not to renew my subscription, which ends with the current issue. My sister, also a charter member, had decided not to renew her subscription for the same reasons. Funny thing, the magazine is folding yet the last issue contains an offer to renew my subscription. Good thing I didn’t do it!

I think Money magazine or Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine are better financial magazines because they cover a wider range of subjects. Their articles are just as interesting, easy to understand and read and probably more enjoyable. They are also more visually appealing. Obviously, I can’t recommend Mutual Funds magazine since it has folded. Although most of the information in issues of Mutual Funds magazine is now outdated, you still may consider consulting back issue for the more general basic information on investing. See if your library carries back issues.

Recommended: No

Trusts for Investment Advice: Sometimes