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URL: http://boards.fool.com/will-i-be-supporting-a-giant-quotevilquot-26165668.aspx
Subject: Re: Diffs between investment companies	Date: 12/6/2007 10:41 AM
Author: Watty56	Number: 60351 of 72282
...Will I be supporting a giant "evil" corporation... The mutual fund companies have different ownership structures. Fidelity is basically a family owned company. Others are owned by groups of people and there are probably some that are publicly traded companies buy can't think of one off the top of my head. Vanguard is unique in that it is set up like a credit union and technically owned by the people who own shares in their mutual funds. This means that its costs are usually(but not always) lower since they don't have to generate a profit for the owners. A fraction of a percent lower cost is a big deal when money is invested over decades, which is why it is a favorite of many informed independent mutual investors. One of the downsides of Vanguard is that they don't have local offices and unless you happen to live near their headquarters, you have to do everything through the phone, mail or on the Internet. They are best for their mutual funds, if you are going to do a lot of buying and selling of individual stocks there are significantly less expensive choices. Greg
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