Is there any advantage in buying mutual funds directly from fund company instead of buying from brokerage firm

Convenience - if you buy thtrough a broker you can switch between funds from different fund families fast.

I would assume the fees would be less buying directly from the fund company.

obviosuly you're getting the same stocks if its the same mutual fund, but you'll save some money from fees if you go direct. on the other hand, you will probably have to do more work and you want to be doubly carefull that it's a good fund if you buy directly from the company. Overall it's a good choice and it will save you some money if you make sure you know what you're buying/doing. Good luck!

Assuming the internal fees are about the same;

Broker will cost you around $575 per $10,000 investment. With the broker you should get (notice I said "should") help in picking a fund with your "asset allocation" and "risk tolerance" in mind.

A no load (no commission) fund from the Mutual Fund company will carry no sales (load) fee.

There are top rated funds in both categories. This is really just a personal choice. 80% of Mutual Funds are bought with a ales charge. People don't feel "secure" in picking their own funds.

I think that after reading a couple of good books on Mutual Funds, spending a year understanding them (read Money or Kiplinger's magazines) and using Morning Star (in conjunction to a good asset allocation) will give you greater success than buying through a broker.

What ever you do.... avoid the typical attraction to the "high flying" funds of the month or year. Look at 5 and ten year returns for some comparison.... don't use that as your only means to measure.

Learn Asset Allocation. It;s the number one key to investor success.

don't invest in anything