American Funds Takes Top Spot in Size

American Funds has overtaken competitors Vanguard and Fidelity to become the largest mutual fund manager in the country, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles-based shop reported $847 billion worth of bonds and stocks, according to information cited from the Investment Company Institute. Vanguard follows with $795 billion and then Fidelity with $794 billion. This ranking represents a shift from last year's standings, when Fidelity ranked first, with $730 billion, and American Funds, with $692 billion, followed in third.

The shuffle comes as no surprise, as American Funds have been the top-sellers since 2001.  When money market funds are included, however, Fidelity remains No. 1, with $1.01 trillion in assets.

American maintains fewer funds than its competitors, too. At the end of 2005, American had 31 funds, compared to Fidelity's 329 distinct offerings and Vanguard's 103 funds, according to a previous account in The Financial Times.

"Our goal has never been to be the largest fund family," Chuck Freadhoff, a spokesman for American's parent company, the privately held Capital Group, told the Los Angeles Times.  "Our goal is only to provide superior long-term investment results to our clients," he said.

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.

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