I referenced an article last month from the Motley Fool [link to post] that discussed the possibility that mutual fund fees would go up in 2009. Despite the market meltdown of 2008 and the exodus of assets out of equity funds, American Funds has made the somewhat predictable decision that they need to raise their fees so they can, in their words, “maintain our ability to serve fund shareholders in the best way possible”. Hmmmm. In case you’re wondering, here are the 2008 returns for some of the largest mutual funds in the American Funds family – these are all ‘A’ shares:
Fundamental Investor: -39.7%
Growth Fund of America: -39.1%
Income Fund of America: -28.9%
Investment Company of America: -34.7%
New World: -46.3%
Smallcap World: -49.4%
See more information here.
