What Are the Best Resources for Mutual Fund Ratings?

Investing in a mutual fund can lead to the successful accomplishment of an investment goal, such as saving for retirement or purchasing a second home. There are many different mutual fund firms to choose from, however, and selecting the one that has a strategy and fee structure that is appropriate can take a lot of time. There are firms that provide mutual fund ratings based on certain criteria that can help an investor to select the appropriate investment portfolio. These services may be free or fee-based and are available in person, in print, or online.

Companies dedicated to evaluating and rating mutual funds may list their services online. In order to find the right provider, the criteria and characteristics that they use to judge mutual fund ratings should be considered. Also, one mutual fund provider might be in style during one market cycle and out of style the next. This is why it is important to continually evaluate these funds based not only on performance but also on the way that assets in a mutual fund are invested. The best providers offer subsequent rating reports to clients after the initial list is produced, and some fee-based services offer members unlimited access to mutual fund ratings.

Certain mutual funds focus on specific industries in an economy or a particular sized company. There are mutual fund ratings available by paid online providers that categorize funds based on these criteria, for instance, ranking mutual funds based on performance of funds that invest in small cap stocks. A small cap stock is a company worth a certain amount based on the number of shares available to trade and the value of each individual share.

There are some free resources available online that provide mutual fund ratings too. These financial websites rely on advertising for revenue and may develop tracking systems based on performance in the mutual fund universe. This type of rating service may depend on aggregated data already available online and less on the muscle of an internal research team, which is available with a paid service. Some mutual funds list shares to trade publicly in the stock market, and a free mutual fund ratings database might advise as to whether the present time is appropriate to invest in a fund.

Research companies are another resource for mutual fund ratings. These firms might track the value of assets flowing into and out of mutual funds over a given period of time. Also, asset flows for individual funds can be tracked, which provides some context for deciding whether to invest in a particular mutual fund.