In a mid-term report card that reviews "Top 10 Investment Themes for 2010," Bob Froehlich, senior managing director of The Hartford Mutual Funds, gave himself one A grade, four Bs, one C, no Ds, and four Fs for a variety of investing strategies in the first volatile half of 2010.
The online report, which describes a challenging market still in the early stages of economic recovery, also identifies ways mutual fund investors may diversify their portfolio to stay in line with long-term financial goals and potentially smooth some of the short-term market volatility.
"This was one painful mid-term report card; I'm putting myself on investment probation," wrote Froehlich, known to many as "Dr. Bob" but who also is in fact a recently retired vice chairman of Deutsche Asset Management with 30 years of Wall Street and Main Street experience that he brought to The Hartford when he joined the Simsbury, Connecticut-based company in 2009.
"I've never been happier to close out the first six months of a year," Froehlich added. "That being said, I'm looking forward to the next six months, when corporate America rebuilds its inventory, which was at its lowest levels since July 1949 when the year began. I also look forward to corporate America spending some of the more-than-$500 billion in undistributed profits, which is the highest level since 1950."