Fund Management, Do-It-Yourself Style

You, yes, you, can be a mutual fund manager. Fund companies are lining up to give you a chance, but whether that's a good thing is another matter, although at least one of the do-it-yourself funds is handily beating the S&P 500.

IPS Funds, for example, a small outfit in Knoxville, Tenn., has filed preliminary paperwork to launch the IPS iFund, which will not only show shareholders its portfolio online in real time but also let them decide what stocks to buy or sell via an online voting system. Wannabe Wall Street titans will even dictate how many shares should be bought or sold, according to the filing, which schedules the fund's launch for October. IPS folks, who didn't return a call for comment, might pick some stocks initially to get the ball rolling, but after that they'll primarily just officiate, making sure the fund doesn't stray from its broad mandate, according to the filing. ...