TheStreet.com Ratings: The Top 5 'Ultra' Funds

Editor's Note: TheStreet.com earlier this month announced the purchase of certain assets of Weiss Group to form "TheStreet.com Ratings." Here is the first article from Kevin Baker, senior financial analyst -- mutual funds. Let us know what you think of the article by clicking here.

Are you trying to figure out where to plant your retirement nest egg? Your adviser may have suggested picking a large fund family to maximize your mutual fund choices while minimizing your transaction costs. That's good advice, but simply having the most funds does not mean having the best funds.

How do you narrow down the list of hundreds of large fund families to the top-five "ultra" fund families?

Four times a year, TheStreet.com Ratings will publish a guide to stock mutual funds, which is a compilation of investment ratings and analyses covering more than 10,000 equity and balanced mutual funds. To be an "ultra" fund family, the fund group must compete in a king-of-the-hill-type competition to see which family can get the most funds onto our guide's list of the top 200 funds. ...