Best Mutual Fund Managers

Many people believe that a rating of the fund managers should be the
true criteria of a fund's investment worthiness not just its own
performance. ]After all Managers are what funds are. Managers switch
from one fund to another and so the news of a good reliable manager
joining a dismally-performing fund should be a great news to follow for
that fund.

Next March we will get to know who will be recipients of the prestigious
Standard &Poor's/BusinessWeek Excellence in Fund Management
Awards for 2005 (Both S&P and BusinessWeek are units of The
McGraw-Hill Companies (MHP) ).

S&P/Business Week selects the recipients by these criteria (i) Funds must
have at least $100 million in assets (ii) the minimum investment must be
less than $26,000 (iii) the fund manager must have been at the helm
of the portfolio for five years (iv) all funds must be open to new investors.

After selecting funds with these criteria, S&P's analytists evaluate how
each fund performed as compared to others in its peer groups. They pay
careful attention to the consistency of performance over one-, three-, and
five-year periods. Expenses, turnover, and the type of stocks used in the
portfolio also go under repeated reviews. Next, the analysts conduct
one-on-one interviews with managers, questioning on important issues of
investment philosophy and style. Well... it's a long process ... for ordinary
investors like us we can only thank S&P and Business Week that they do
this and finally we get to know some names to rely on ...

Last year's best managers were:
Rudolph-Riad Younes , Julius Baer International Equity (BJBIX)
John Calamos Sr./Nick Calamos, Calamos Growth & Income (CVTRX)
Daniel Boone III, Calvert Social Investment Equity (CSIEX)
(Team Managed), Dodge & Cox Balanced (DODBX)
(Team Managed), Growth Fund of America (AGTHX)
Bill Miller/ Nancy Dennin , Legg Mason Value Trust (LMVTX)
Dan Fuss, Managers Bond (MGFIX)
Barach, Gundlach, Horton, TCW Galileo Total Return Bond (TGLMX)
William Fries, Thornburg Value A (TVAFX)