Rumblings Rising About A Quiet Giant

It’s taken American Funds more than 70 years to reach the ultimate achievement of being the top manager of stock and bonds, and now that it has, the Los Angeles-based firm, known for its understated demeanor, finds itself criticized for perhaps getting too big for its own good. Fortune magazine notes that some of American’s best performers’ slips in returns are showing, and the firm has responded by shifting managers, but so far has not followed the path of some of its peers, and that is to close funds to new investors to protect the returns of its existing clients. American Funds, according to Fortune, may have its reasons for its approach; perhaps because it offers fewer mutual funds and has a different structure. As for closing a fund, American spokesman Chuck Freadhoff told Fortune, “At this point, we don’t believe size has reached a point that our shareholders are disadvantaged by it.”