SIMPLE IRA Providers

[austin3515]

Is there a web site that ranks SIMPLE IRA/401(k) providers? For example, which of the big mutual fund companies are the most highly rated?

[John G]

Highly rated for what? You would probably go to different sources if you are talking about fees/costs, account features, range of investment options or fund performance. Can you post again clarifying what specific kind of info you are considering?

Also note, by clicking on the "Plan Administration and Design" underlined text up the top of this page you will see that there are additional message boards for each of these two topics. You may want to shift you question to those boards or use the search function on those two message boards.

If your question is mostly about performance of funds, let me give you some quick pointers. First, past performance is often a poor indicator of future performance of funds. For example, security/defense stocks and financial stocks have had a great run for the past few years. What is often a weak performer in one year often has above avg results in the following year... especially international and sector funds. Chasing fund performance often leads to below average results. Second, future performance of a fund is often effected by: change in fund manager, growth in fund assets (it is often easier to pick winners in a small fund, but if successful the fund will grow often making stock picking more difficult), and shifts in investment style. Third, read point one again!