What is the best mutual fund company to invest with, and why ?

The best mutual fund companies are the ones with the lowest fees. www.vanguard.com is the lowest, with www.fidelity.com a close second.

Let me share with you an exerpt from my free book, downloadable in PDF format from my website. Click on my profile and read the info to find the site:

"Several landmark studies, summarized in these links, show just how important asset allocation is:

- http://www.nomonkeybusiness.org/articles...
- http://www.ifa.com/media/images/investme...
- http://www.fpanet.org/journal/articles/2...

First, these studies show that the majority of risk in a portfolio (measured by its volatility) was determined by the stock to bond ratio. The specific funds, the individual securities within the funds, and timing of the purchases played only a minor role. Second, the studies showed that almost all of a portfolio's gross return depends on the asset allocation, most of that determined by the stock to bond ratio.

The studies also found that within funds of the same asset allocation setup, the low-cost funds beat out their high-cost counterparts. The study by Ronald Surz found that "costs were the major culprit in subtracting value" from the gross returns. Or, consider the words of Yesim Tokat, "Our results show that policy return [asset allocation] contributed more than 100 percent of actual returns, and therefore, that the contribution of active management to actual returns was negative." Also, "We find that, on average, active management reduces a portfolio's returns and increases its volatility compared with a static index implementation of the portfolio's asset allocation." In other words, active management had a negative impact for investors. But this should be old news by now. We already know that most actively-managed funds fall short of the market index by the same amount as their expenses.

Asset allocation determines the volatility and gross return of your portfolio, most of that from the stock to bond ratio. Costs then determine how much of that gross return you retain. Past performance, Morningstar ratings, manager's stock picks, and market timing yield no benefit." - page 180

I would go with Vanguard or Fidelity. They are both well established and have mostly no load funds. Also the annual fees to own their funds seem to be lower than other mutual fund companies.
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Investing in mutual fund (know in US & Eroupe market) or unit trust (know in asia market) is the best for those who have no knowledge investing in stock market! Because mutual fund collective investment scheme, which pools the savings of investors with similar investment objectives in a special "trust" fund managed by professional fund managers. The pooled monies in the unit trust fund will then be invested in a diversified portfolio of securities and other assets in accordance with the unit trust fund's investment objectives and as permitted under the Securities Commission's (SC) Guidelines!
The benefits you will get to enjoy with mutual fund investment are:

Professional investment services
Diversification opportunities and minimised risks
Affordability
Convenience
Liquidity
In brief low risk , high return.

Now u can invest in global market, like Asia market, South East Asia market, Europe market, US market.
There many type of mutual fund or unit trust & here is some of the type : Equity, Property (REIT), Bond & Others !

Right now invest in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia market is the best cause the economy is blooming. Europe market & US market growth is a little bit slower than asia market right now.
Here is some simple strategi to invest in:
Step 1: Define your investment goals
Step 2: Decide your time horizon and risk tolerance
Step 3: Understand the products and decide what suits your investment portfolio
Step 4: Practise asset allocation
Step 5: Practise regular investment
Step 6: Review and rebalance your investment portfolio from time to time.

Please consult with a mutual fund / unit trust consultant before u investing to understand the product that u will invest in.
For me, i already invest in great china fund, global property fund & index fund . If you still need some advice in this matter contact me at ercino9638@yahoo.com.sg & let me know.

I think it depends on how much you have to invest. If you only have $500 to start with excelsior funds has low cost no load funds that have good performance. Vanguard and Fidelity are two low cost fund family's. Personally I like Gabelli. They have a few top notch no load funds (and some turkeys). If you have over $25,000 invested with them there are no fees and good service. Funds managed by Mario Gabelli usually smoke the S&P 500.