Conventional wisdom says you need a finance/economics degree from a "top school" and extensive money management experience before you can run a mutual fund. But, Marketocracy.com doesn't believe in conventional wisdom.  (Good for them!)

Instead of so-called "professsional" fund managers, Marketocracy's mutal fund is run by amateurs…amateurs who are knowledgable in specific market segments, and thus able to generate higher-than-average returns (supposedly).

Currently, the fund tracks more than 60,000 stock portfolios online, and of those, the top 100 performing portfolios are mirrored in a real life mutual fund, the Masters 100 Fund (MOFQX).

From an entrepreneurial perspective, it's a brilliant idea…a unique way to discover investment talent that would have never been discovered (because most excellent stock pickers are not people who graduated from "top schools," but rather ordinary individuals who have in-depth knowledge of a particular industry or sector). Marketocracy.com makes money from its real-life mutual fund, and from stock alerts & subscriptions which allow you to monitor what the top 100 fund managers are buying.

Here's a brief description of the company from Formative Ventures (its VC firm):

Marketocracy's mission is to find investment talent wherever it may be, by identifying people with firsthand industry experience and proven investment strategies, and to develop an extensive "farm system" of investors to build a powerful family of mutual funds.

Launched in 2000 by distinguished mutual fund manager Ken Kam, Marketocracy currently has over 41,000 members from 75 countries. The company’s Masters 100 Mutual Fund (Symbol: MOFQX), launched in November of 2001, leverages the experience and expertise of portfolio manager Ken Kam with a unique and powerful research tool: the m100 Index, which is made up of the current ideas of the best performing virtual funds within the company’s system.

So, it's a real-life mutual fund run by amateurs…amateurs that often beat the professionals at their own game. After you create an account, marketocracy's website provides you with $1 million dollars (a ficticious portfolio) to play with and allocate as you see fit. Your goal is to generate the highest returns while staying "compliant."

So, have at it. Start your own mutual fund . Who knows? Maybe you'll be the next money manager. If nothing else, it'll be a good learning experience.