TheStreet.com Ratings: 'Ultra' Fund Families

Back on Aug. 19, when I published the first "Top 5 'Ultra' Funds" article, I had no idea how huge the response would be. Readers sent in comments, and Dreyfus put out a press release.

The purpose of the list is to provide investors looking to minimize transaction costs with suggestions for fund families that have many good funds. The groups with the most funds in the top-200 list of our Quarterly Guide to Mutual Funds qualify as 'ultra' fund families. This time the number of ultra funds was slightly higher than the last quarter, because of ties.

MFS, a unit of Sun Life Financial(SLF Quote), topped the list again for the third quarter, with 14 funds. BlackRock (BLK Quote), Dreyfus, a unit of Mellon Financial(MEL Quote),and Putnam Investments tied for second with nine funds. AIM, a unit of Amvescap PLC(AVZ Quote), Fidelity and Vanguard tied for third place with eight funds.

One comment I received suggested that the results should be given without the effect of multiple share classes. Even when the clones are eliminated, MFS still comes out on top with six unique funds. Dimensional Investments and Putnam followed with five. AIM, Fidelity, GMO and Vanguard each had four unique funds.

And lastly, Ameriprise Financial(AMP Quote), BlackRock, Dreyfus, Franklin Templeton, also known as Franklin Resources (BEN Quote), Phoenix Investment Partners, a subsidiary of The Phoenix Companies(PNX Quote), and TIAA-CREF each had three unique funds in the top 200.

Taking a much wider view than just the top 200 funds, there are 30 fund families that have 100 or more funds for which TheStreet.com Ratings assigns rankings. The list below shows how many funds we rate for each fund family and the percentage of those funds that fall in the top 30%, middle 40% and bottom 30% of our universe of open-end stock mutual funds.

With our risk-adjusted return model, a ranking in the top 30% of funds represents an overall investment rating from A-plus down to B-minus. The middle 40% includes C-plus, C and C-minus. The bottom 30% ranges from D-plus down to E-minus. To be ranked, a fund must have at least three years of data available.

Cream of the Fund Crop Fund families with over 100 rated funds
Fund Family Name	# of Funds Rated	Top 30%	Middle 40%	Bottom 30%
American Funds	211	70.6%	25.6%	3.8%
Franklin Templeton	194	54.6%	24.7%	20.6%
Vanguard	112	53.6%	35.7%	10.7%
Goldman Sachs	129	50.4%	22.5%	27.1%
Allianz Global Investors	117	47.9%	19.7%	32.5%
T. Rowe Price	111	45.9%	44.1%	9.9%
Ameriprise Financial	109	45.9%	29.4%	24.8%
Hartford Funds, The	109	41.3%	37.6%	21.1%
AIM Investments	148	41.2%	35.1%	23.6%
Pioneer Investments	108	38.9%	22.2%	38.9%
BlackRock	232	37.1%	35.3%	27.6%
Principal Financial Group	225	36.4%	37.3%	26.2%
Morgan Stanley	199	36.2%	42.2%	21.6%
Dreyfus	261	34.1%	39.8%	26.1%
JPMorgan Funds	238	33.6%	45.0%	21.4%
Gartmore	147	32.7%	40.1%	27.2%
DWS Scudder	166	31.9%	36.7%	31.3%
Evergreen Investments	102	31.4%	34.3%	34.3%
American Century Investments	139	30.2%	36.7%	33.1%
Van Kampen	143	30.1%	44.8%	25.2%
Columbia Funds	379	28.8%	50.7%	20.6%
Delaware Investments	101	26.7%	41.6%	31.7%
Wells Fargo Advantage	193	25.9%	40.9%	33.2%
MFS	311	25.7%	40.2%	34.1%
OppenheimerFunds	140	25.0%	23.6%	51.4%
ING Investments, LLC	307	24.1%	41.4%	34.5%
Fidelity	499	22.0%	52.3%	25.7%
Putnam Funds	384	21.9%	60.2%	18.0%
Alliance Bernstein	289	19.4%	55.0%	25.6%
Legg Mason	136	11.0%	45.6%	43.4%
Source: TheStreet.com Ratings

The standout winner is American Funds with 70.6%, or 149, of its 211 ranked funds in our top 30% and just eight funds, or 3.8%, in the bottom 30%. Franklin Templeton, Vanguard and Goldman Sachs(GS Quote), also excelled, having more than half their ranked funds in the top 30%.

A fund family does not have to be huge to warrant recognition or consideration. In the next tier of fund families, those with between 40 and 99 ranked funds, Ivy Funds, a unit of Waddell & Reed Financial(WDR Quote), and UBS Global Asset Management, a unit of UBS AG(UBS Quote), topped our list.

Highly Rated Fund families with 40-99 rated funds
Fund Family Name	# of Funds Rated	Top 30%	Middle 40%	Bottom 30%
Ivy Funds	68	47.1%	41.2%	11.8%
UBS Global Asset Management	65	40.0%	26.2%	33.8%
STI Classic Funds	50	38.0%	38.0%	24.0%
Lord Abbett	75	36.0%	42.7%	21.3%
Gabelli Funds	75	34.7%	34.7%	30.7%
MainStay Funds	91	33.0%	46.2%	20.9%
BB&T Funds	46	32.6%	47.8%	19.6%
Pacific Life Group	72	31.9%	34.7%	33.3%
Russell Funds	70	31.4%	52.9%	15.7%
MassMutual Funds	97	30.9%	24.7%	44.3%
First American	99	29.3%	46.5%	24.2%
Strategic Partners	76	27.6%	28.9%	43.4%
Old Mutual Funds	62	25.8%	17.7%	56.5%
Eaton Vance	82	25.6%	40.2%	34.1%
AXA Enterprise Funds	84	23.8%	35.7%	40.5%
Janus Fund	56	23.2%	41.1%	35.7%
GE Investment	44	22.7%	50.0%	27.3%
Credit Suisse Funds	50	22.0%	40.0%	38.0%
JennisonDryden	84	21.4%	60.7%	17.9%
Allegiant Funds	48	20.8%	45.8%	33.3%
Waddell & Reed	55	20.0%	43.6%	36.4%
Federated Investors	69	18.8%	46.4%	34.8%
Fifth Third Funds	81	18.5%	37.0%	44.4%
Phoenix Funds	85	17.6%	38.8%	43.5%
MTB Funds	43	16.3%	16.3%	67.4%
John Hancock	93	16.1%	40.9%	43.0%
Munder Funds	59	15.3%	61.0%	23.7%
Seligman Group	94	14.9%	56.4%	28.7%
ProFunds	76	14.5%	26.3%	59.2%
SunAmerica	74	13.5%	20.3%	66.2%
Rydex Funds	83	13.3%	30.1%	56.6%
IXIS Advisor Funds	40	10.0%	65.0%	25.0%
IDEX Funds	76	7.9%	44.7%	47.4%
PIMCO Funds	68	4.4%	52.9%	42.6%
Source: TheStreet.com Ratings

If you don't like to keep all your eggs in one basket, there are smaller fund families with noteworthy performances among which you can pick and choose. There are 73 fund families that have between 10 to 39 ranked funds. Below are the 20 best-performing fund families of this group.

Many Winners Too Fund families with 10-39 rated funds
Fund Family Name	# of Funds Rated	Top 30%	Middle 40%	Bottom 30%
Diamond Trusts	11	90.9%	9.1%	0.0%
Lazard Funds	13	84.6%	0.0%	15.4%
Dimensional Investment Group	23	78.3%	21.7%	0.0%
American AAdvantage	25	72.0%	24.0%	4.0%
Thornburg Funds	15	66.7%	33.3%	0.0%
Davis Funds	26	65.4%	34.6%	0.0%
TIAA-CREF Funds	25	64.0%	28.0%	8.0%
Vantagepoint Funds	19	63.2%	31.6%	5.3%
Harbor Funds	24	58.3%	4.2%	37.5%
Oakmark	12	58.3%	41.7%	0.0%
Hotchkis & Wiley	14	57.1%	14.3%	28.6%
GMO Funds	36	55.6%	22.2%	22.2%
Optimum Funds	20	55.0%	25.0%	20.0%
Pacific Capital	22	54.5%	18.2%	27.3%
First Eagle	15	53.3%	26.7%	20.0%
Nuveen Mutual Funds	24	50.0%	33.3%	16.7%
Forward Funds, Inc.	10	50.0%	20.0%	30.0%
Kinetics Mutual Funds	10	50.0%	0.0%	50.0%
Schwab Funds	29	48.3%	48.3%	3.4%
Barclay's Global	11	45.5%	54.5%	0.0%
Source: TheStreet.com Ratings

That leaves exactly 300 fund families with fewer than 10 funds we rank. Two of those families have all of their funds ranked in the top 30%. They are Third Avenue, a unit of Affiliated Managers(AMG Quote), with four funds, and Dodge & Cox, with three funds.

Whether you decide to keep your retirement eggs at one large firm or spread them out among several smaller ones, the fund family you choose today can make all the difference in the world.