Fund managers rarely get it right

Savvy as modern mutual-fund investors may have grown, they'-re as bad as ever at the sector-fund selection game. The sad evidence is plain to see in any current fund performance chart. Look at how these stock funds, which concentrate on sectors of the market such as electronic technology, financial and utility stocks, performed in the first seven months of 2001. By far the biggest of seven sector categories tracked by the Chicago research firm Morningstar is technology, with 339 funds comprising $82bn in assets at last report. It's also the worst performer this year, with a 33% loss thr...