Professor Translates Decade of Teaching Mutual Fund Analysis into Invaluable Guide for Investors

In his new book, Mutual Funds: Risk and Performance Analysis for Decision Making (Blackwell Publishers: Oxford, 2003), Smith School Emeritus Professor John A. Haslem teaches the rest of us how to evaluate and select mutual funds. Its knowledge that comes none too soon. According to the Investment Company Institute, by the end of the 20th century, more than 400 different companies were offering some 8,000 mutual funds, and 49 percent of American households were investing in them.

In the preface to Mutual Funds, Haslem acknowledges the contribution of students in his mutual funds analysis course at the Smith School. At the time the course was created, it was the first security analysis course (in a collegiate school of business) dedicated to mutual funds, Haslem writes. Over the years, several thousand (Smith School) students have provided research reports that improved our knowledge and approaches to the topic.

The book is organized in such a way as to make it both an informative textbook and a detailed guide for investors. The 12 chapters cover a broad range of topics, including understanding the advantages and disadvantages of mutual funds, evaluating stock/bond allocations within fund portfolios, measuring fund returns and risk, and the future of the mutual funds industry. In addition to its comprehensiveness, what's unique about the book is its formatted approach to mutual fund investing. More than 80 templates provide a step-by-step decision checklist for investors.

Leaders in the mutual fund industry and finance scholars have praised the scope and usefulness of Mutual Funds. This marvelous compendium of mutual fund information is the answer to the prayers of serious investors who want to dig beneath the superficial to reach the fundamental, states John C. Bogle, founder and former CEO of The Vanguard Group. Haslem's realistic, thoroughly researched perspective on mutual funds is must reading for both investors and fund managers, states Robert O. Edmister, professor of finance and Frank R. Day/MBA Chair of Banking at the University of Mississippi. This is one of those solid books that results from a strong academic background in investments and a balanced view of the financial markets.

Notes Don Phillips, managing director of Morningstar, Inc.: If you're seeking order out of the chaos of competing lists of 10 Funds to Buy Now, then this is the book for you.

John Haslem's research on banking and mutual funds has been published in academic and practitioner journals, and he is the author of five books. He has been a consultant to NASA, the U.S. Department of Justice, and various banks, law firms, and other organizations. He also advises on mutual fund selection and portfolio allocation.

For further information on Mutual Funds: Risk and Performance Analysis for Decision Making, visit the publishers Web site, www.blackwellpublishing.com.