College-savings plans continue to provide welcome tax benefits and help families. |
In general, we're not too high on Federated because the performance of its funds has been poor across the board. It has started to see outflows [of investor assets] from them. |
Some plans are getting better, but investors really need to be careful and do their homework. |
The idea of a focus fund is to devote assets to your highest-conviction stock picks. It makes stock picking critical. A couple of blowups can really damage returns. |
The Smith Barney lineup is kind of thin. They seem to have spotty records in other areas of the market. You haven't seen many managers stand out. |
They make savvy bets, but they could be caught leaning the wrong way. We still like the fund, but such a streak is harder and harder to maintain. I wouldn't be pounding the table telling people to buy this fund. |
They were very quick to act and fix their systems and prevent this problem from happening again. |
We recommend this fund because we like Whitman's experienced and disciplined approach. |