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Title: New York Institute of Finance Guide to Mutual Funds, 2000 by Kirk Kazanjan, Kirk Kazanjian ISBN: 0-7352-0130-7 Publisher: Prentice Hall Press Pub. Date: 08 November, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $20.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3.33 (3 reviews)

Rating: 2
Summary: Disappointing..
Comment: Like many mutual fund investing books, this one was a bit of a disappointment. With the huge selection of funds from which to choose, the authors select just a few of their favorites and don't give ample justification for many of the funds' inclusion. The advice on building a fund portfolio was ho-hum--you can find the same information in any issue of a monthly investment magazine. Also, as with many investment books, the data and commentary quickly feel outdated.

Rating: 5
Summary: Fine mutual fund compilation
Comment: I have recently read several compilations of mutual fund data and, in my view, this is the best. Morningstar reviews 500 funds extensively, and Business Week reviews 885 equity funds (and an unknown number of bond funds, but who cares?). This book covers 9000 funds. The trade-off for the extensive coverage is less detail about each fund. If you want more material, and will only look at the major players, then Morningstar is the better bet. If you want to go mining for overlooked gems, as I did, then Kazanjian's book gives you a better chance of finding them.

Much of Morningstar's information is available on-line. Mutual Fund Magazine is also a good on-line source for information.

I read the previous review and would be very interested in hearing how Kazanjian's 1999 picks have fared. His reviews of what he considers to be top funds are interesting and thought provoking, even if they don't prove to be the very top funds for the coming year. Everybody's got to do the work and decide which funds match their own personality and what's best for themselves.

If you want to go fishing in the whole ocean of equity funds, stop first at this bait shop.

Rating: 3
Summary: Good, But Lacks Accountability For His Top Picks From 1999
Comment: Provides good overview of the mutual fund industry (basically the same material from his 1999 book). He also provides his list of "100 Powerhouse Performers for 2000" (Chpt. 5) and several recommended portfolios (Chpt. 6).

In "Guide to Mutual Funds 1999" he lists his 100 powerhouse performers for 1999. My problem with his new book is that he doesn't account for his 1999 picks.

When I first saw his "2000" book, I first looked to see how well his 1999 picks performed compared to the usual suspects (e.g., S&P 500, Russell 2000). Unfortunately, he does not list this information. If his picks performed well, then WHY NOT include this critical information, especially since this would help to establish credibility and sell more books. Since he does NOT provide this basic information, the logical inference would be that his picks did not perform that well (compared to other funds and indices).

Besides the overview of mutual funds, the main reason for buying this book (especially if you bought his 1999 book) is his fund recommendations. That presumes that his recommendations carry some weight. Although "past performance is no indication of future performance," I would like to see some track record of his prior recommendations. He seems to have done a great deal of research and his suggestions maybe very good, but with no track record, it's hard to put much faith in his picks.

Fund managers are held accountable for their picks and those that make fund recommendations should be as well.

To the author (Kirk Kazanjian):

1. How did your 1999 recommendations perform (overall and individually) compared to other funds and the main indices?

2. Is there a single place (URL?) where readers can view the performance of all 100 picks from 1999?

3. Why did you not include this information in your latest book?