Pitt and the Portfolio: Dagen Helps Harvey With Fund Picks

And these are load funds. I am assuming that you have a broker or an adviser who sold you these funds. No one in their right mind would buy a load fund on their own. Sir.

You should pay a commission only if that money's going to compensate someone for advice.

But evidently you have so much money, that paying a load probably isn't an issue. You invested at least $800,000 in those five American funds -- only one part of your family's portfolio.

Come to think of it: If you're investing that much money, load funds really don't cost that much. The more money you invest in a fund's A shares, the lower the load goes. That sales charge will disappear altogether if you invest more than $1 million in a fund.

So your recent choices are solid. But you do have some dogs buried in you and your wife's portfolio. The (LAFFX)Lord Abbett Affiliated fund? This large-cap value fund hasn't done so well recently. And the (SSEAX)State Street Research Mid Cap Value fund has fallen off a cliff this year.

Then again, you don't want to dump a fund too quickly. You've got to have some patience with a fund's short-term performance. You've got to give a fund time to see if it can rebound -- that's a sentiment I am sure you can relate to at the moment.

I won't go through your entire portfolio. If you want to talk about your funds, let me know.

I am always here for you, Mr. Chairman.

My best,

Dagen McDowell

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints