Newsletter releases ‘Fund Lemon List’

What do the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index fund, the American Funds American Balanced A fund and the Fidelity Investments Fidelity Equity-Income fund all have in common? They hold the top three places, respectively, on the “Mutual Fund Lemon list,” which was released yesterday by Doug Fabian, a newsletter editor. The funds from the Vanguard Group Inc. of Malvern, Pa., the American Funds Group, which is owned by Capital Research and Management Co., and Fidelity Investments of Boston lost 1.56%, 2.75% and 5.29%, respectively, during the second quarter. Yesterday, Mr. Fabian released the latest iteration of his list, which intends to expose “the worst-performing mutual funds” for the quarter, according to a statement. “Mutual fund investors have been brainwashed by the financial services industry to hold whatever they have been sold, even if it is against the best interest of the investor,” he said in the statement. The list ranks 2,185 funds in 82 different categories, with total assets under management exceeding $1 trillion.