Have you seen the latest advertisement for a certain mutual fund company who will not be named? In this one, we are actually expected to believe they invested in a mattress company because one of the investment board members remembered that the company had gotten patents worldwide for their latest invention -- unlike the others who thought the firm's market was just one country, Denmark.
How stupid do they think we are? For one thing, any idiot knows that a patent issued by one EU state is normally valid in the whole bloc -- and a market of 27 countries with about 450 million people is not something that's going to be easily missed. For another, the accent of the guy playing the guy running the company wasn't entirely convincing either -- it's hard to fake a Danish accent, or Finnish (remember the tire commercial from earlier this year, same investment firm).
Folks, read the prospectus, even if its reads like the manual for the space shuttle (sorry, it's a great rim shot line from Dave Chilton, the "Wealthy Barber".) Look into the companies they invest in even if you have to do some online research. Find out if they are the kinds of companies you like -- or even understand. Personally, I'd rather park my money in an index fund -- at least it's common knowledge what types of businesses are in the S&P 500, for instance; and the fees are way less which means more money in investor's pockets.
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