Milwaukee: America's Mutual Fund Mecca

Albert Nicholas, the dean of Milwaukee money managers, has a theory on why the midsize city best known for beer and bratwurst is home to so many top-performing mutual funds. “We are not as influenced by fads and trends as people on the coasts,” says Nicholas, who has run the $1.7 billion Nicholas Fund since 1969. “We are very independent.”

Among the city’s standouts is the $578 million FMI Focus Fund, which beat 99 percent of rivals over the past 15 years. The $10.6 billion Wells Fargo Advantage Growth Fund and the $2.5 billion Heartland Value Plus Fund are among the eight funds managed in or near Wisconsin’s largest city that outgained at least 94 percent of peers over the past 10 years. That’s almost as many as in Chicago, where nine funds pulled off a similar feat—and Chicago is home to five times as many funds.