This has been a rough week so far for American Funds in terms of press coverage. First came the InvestmentNews article on Tuesday with the headline "Advisers abandoning American Funds." Then on Wednesday came an article by Forbes' Matthew Schifrin, who picked up on the InvestmentNews piece in his blog post entitled "Arrogant American Funds Losing Luster, And Assets."

Schifrin, who says he owns American Funds Growth Fund of America through his Fidelity-recordkept 401(k) plan, notes that apart from performance issues, American Funds' problem is that its products are "equity heavy."

He adds: "One thing not focused on in the article is the ETF onslaught. This has captured the hearts and client-books of many financial advisors. Like other mutual fund companies Capital Research appears to be suffering from the "deer in the headlights" syndrome. Does Capital Group have a clear strategy with regard to ETF competition? I hope so." 

Edited by: Armie Margaret Lee


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