The Mutual Fund Investor's Five-Point Checklist

On any given day there are over 1,100 funds rated highly by Morningstar, Inc. A good starting point but... how do you narrow the list? Use this 5-Point Checklist to help dig deeper when considering a fund.

1. Diversification – Does this fund fill a need in your portfolio? Start with your asset allocation plan. Know the type of fund you need in your portfolio and how it fits your diversification plan. This will focus your choices considerably. Questions about asset allocation? Read our article on Diversifying Your Investments. 2. Performance – Does this fund have a favorable performance record? Take a look at longer-term ratings in addition to the Morningstar Overall rating. Generally, longer term performance figures avoid distortions that can result from a few “lucky” investment management decisions or short-term fluctuations in the market. 3. Stability of Team – Does this fund have key people with significant tenure? How long have the key decision makers managed money? How long have they worked together as a team? Look for low turnover and a management team that has depth of experience. Good performance often depends on an investment team having years of experience working together and pooling their areas of expertise to make consistently good buy and sell decisions. 4. Philosophy – Does this fund operate with an independent philosophy? The fund manager’s philosophy on investing will drive the fund’s process and strategy. How independent is this fund’s philosophy? Is the fund part of a large fund family? Are all funds within the family operated under the same philosophy? If so, do you hold more than one fund with this family? Having money in different types of investments is wise, and so is having funds with different investing philosophies. 5. Process – Does the fund manager have a consistent investment process? Take a look at the process the manager uses for selecting investments. Does the investment process seem to fit with the stated investment philosophy? Over time has the fund stayed true to its process, even during those periods when the process was temporarily out of favor in the market? Compare our funds with any funds on your list: View our Morningstar Rating Chart It's easy to invest with Managers Investment Group Select a Fund. Read the Prospectus for your Fund. Download an Application. Mail your application to us at: Managers Funds Shareholder Services P.O. Box 9769 Providence, RI 02940-9769 OR, invest through any major mutual fund marketplace or consult your investment professional. Consider the Managers Difference... Investment Manager Selection and Diversification 1. Diversification – Managers’ list of mutual funds ranked highly by Morningstar covers a wide range of styles. You can find a fund in virtually every investment category you’re looking for. How do we offer such a wide array of quality funds? Rather than hiring its own portfolio managers, Managers Investment Group employs outside investment management firms with proven track records. Access to this type of specialized money management is quite often limited to large institutions and high net worth clients. Selecting these “sub-advisors” is a very rigorous process at Managers. Sub-advisors are selected after careful screening to identify those that have: Highly experienced management team Strict adherence to their investment discipline Time-tested, consistent style 2. Performance – A quick glance at our Morningstar Rating Chart shows you the ranking record of our highly-rated funds for the 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods. You’ll find these highly rated funds across a wide variety of investment categories. 3. Stability of Team – Check out the people behind any of Managers' family of funds. You will find seasoned investment firms noted for their long-term track record. You’ll find some key managers who are very well-known. Read about the people managing each of our funds on our Web site fund pages, and learn more about their impressive qualifications and tenure. 4. Philosophy – Managers actively searches for the most qualified independent managers available. This means that not one single investment philosophy guides all of our funds. This also means we are not imposing a given philosophy on an “in-house” manager. Your portfolio can benefit from independent thought. You can reduce the risk from employing one point of view, as can often be the case when you invest with one large investment firm managing assets in-house. 5. Process – Learn about the detailed investment process behind each fund in the Managers family. Visit our specific fund pages and you'll find a well-conceived rationale and a thoroughly explained process for each fund. View our Morningstar Rating Chart Investing with us is easy. You may invest in Managers Funds through any major mutual fund marketplace or open an account directly with us. For more investing education, choose a section of our Knowledge Center to explore: Market Information Investment Strategies Retirement & Education Accounts

Disclosure

The performance shown represents past performance and is not a guarantee of future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted. The investment return and the principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. From time to time the advisor has waived fees or reimbursed expenses, which may have resulted in higher returns. The listed returns and yields on the Fund are net of expenses and the returns and yields on the indices exclude expenses. Current performance of the Fund may be lower or higher than the performance quoted.

Investors should carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses before investing. For this and other information, please call 800.835.3879 or download a free prospectus. Read it carefully before investing or sending money.

For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar RatingTM based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund’s monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating Metrics.

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