Value Line again

As noted here I recently sold a long term poorly performing investment in the Value Line Fund mutual fund. I was unaware at the time of the information in this story about the end of the less than successful reign of the daughter of Value Line's founder. It appears I would have been wise to get out long ago since among other things it appears the mutual fund was paying inflated commissions:

Value Line found another way to profit from its mutual funds, according to the SEC—by overcharging customers. Starting in 1986, when Mrs. Buttner was president but not yet CEO, the company began what the SEC calls a “fraudulent practice” of sending mutual fund trades to brokers who charged inflated commissions and then kicked back a portion of the commissions to Value Line.

This is an example of the perils of nepotism. It appears making your daughter your successor because you can't find anyone else is not the best plan:

Mrs. Buttner was appointed president of Value Line in 1984 by her father, who had looked in vain both inside and outside the family for a successor; she became CEO upon his death three years later. ...

And a reason past performance does not guarantee future results as the disclaimers say. I guess paying a bit more attention to my investments is indicated.