Are mutual funds failing investors?

Mutual fund investors need to be educated on various fronts. Firstly, all the media and many so called analysts concentrate on how mutual funds rise and fall with the stock markets, ignoring the basic fact that all mutual funds do not invest in shares. If this misconception is removed, more investors will know what mutual fund really are. The second point is that since risk and reward go together, you can't expect high gains without any risks. And lastly, unlike fixed income investments, equity oriented mutual fund returns are neither regular, nor assured and are definitely not in one direction, up. Only when investors are made clearly aware of the risks will they be more reasonable in their expectations.