Forbes Magazine’s annual honor roll of mutual funds is met with great anticipation by much of the investing public.  After all, the fund research from such a prestigious publication should provide investors with a great opportunity to assemble a most prosperous portfolio; but, is that how it turned out?  Did Forbes Magazine succeed in providing investors with an outstanding tool with which to choose mutual funds?  Answer in a word:  NO!

From 1990, Forbes placed 292 funds on its most prestigious annual Honor Roll, with annual qualified listings of 10 to 20 funds.  Over the years, the honor roll actually consisted of only 104 funds, with many of the funds making repeat appearances.   Surprisingly, it would be difficult to build a properly allocated portfolio out of the honor roll funds, as they represent only a few of the different investment categories.

 The simple mathematical odds of a fund achieving a certain performance quartile...