Investments, tenth edition

 Table 24C 

 Relevant risk-free asset and market index 

 performance data, 1999–2010 

Risk-Free Asset

Average annual rate of return

5.0%

Market Index

Average annual rate of return

18.9%

Standard deviation of returns

13.8%

 E-INVESTMENTS EXERCISES 

 Several popular finance-related Web sites offer mutual fund screeners. Go to   moneycentral.

msn.com   and click on the  Investing  link on the top menu. Choose  Funds  from the submenu, 

then look for the  Easy Screener  link on the left-side menu. Before you start to specify your 

preferences using the drop-down boxes, look for the  Show More Options  link toward the 

bottom of the page and select it. When all of the options are shown, devise a screen for 

funds that meet the following criteria: 5-star Morningstar Overall Rating, a Minimum Initial 

Investment as low as possible, Low Morningstar Risk, No Load, Manager Tenure of at least 5 

years, Morningstar Overall Return high, 12b-1 fees as low as possible, and Expense Ratio as 

low as possible. Click on the  Find Funds  link to run the screen. 

 When you get the list of results, you can sort them according to any one criterion that 

interests you by clicking on its column heading. Are there any funds you would rule out 

based on what you see? If you want to rerun the screen with different choices click on 

the  Change Criteria  link toward the top of the page and make the changes. Click on  Find 

Funds  again to run the new screen. You can click on any fund symbol to get more informa-

tion about it. 

 Are any of these funds of interest to you? How might your screening choices differ if 

you were choosing funds for various clients?