Do You Own Any of These Lousy Funds?

Doug Fabian, the president of the Fabian Wealth Strategies investment advisory firm and editor of the "Successful Investing" newsletter, has for the past 10 years been publishing an uncharacteristic appraisal of selected funds.

The California newsletter publisher differentiates himself from conventional advisory services by quarterly publishing a "Lemon List," which he defines as a scorecard of the "worst-performing mutual funds."

His current lemon list, summarizing results for the first quarter of 2008, focuses on what Fabian termed "dividend disasters." The roster includes the "value" and "dividend-oriented" mutual funds that he feels are prime candidates for avoidance by investors.

"Investors who own these dividend disaster funds should strongly consider repositioning their assets to much safer and better performing funds," he advises, adding that "they should strongly consider a move toward low-cost, objectively managed exchange-traded funds." ...