For "Todd" Kennedy and "Nigel" Hussein, family name association is either a blessing or a curse. As SmartMoney notes, the truism holds for mutual fund families as well. The publication took a look at the overall performance of the 10 largest mutual fund companies by assets under management, and although "I have all my money with Fidelity" might impress the neighbors, it won't do much for quarterly statements.
Sure, each company has the star manager they like to market, but what about their other funds?
"Family pedigree, it would appear, doesn't count for much," SmartMoney writes. "Indeed, only two of the 10 largest mutual fund clans–bond-focused PIMCO and Vanguard, known primarily for its benchmark-hugging index funds–managed to finish in the black for 2011. (PIMCO's six dozen funds averaged a 3.6% return, despite Bill Gross' admitted recent slipup.)"
