NEW YORK (AP) - As a child, Craig Hodges watched his father work and delighted in how easy it seemed to be to be a professional money manager.

"As a 10-year-old, I can remember telling my mom, 'Dad didn't work, he talked on the phone all the day,"' Hodges said, recalling one of his first trips to his father's office. "I thought work was actually having to do manual labor."

Having now toiled alongside his father, Don, for 21 years, in part as co-portfolio manager of the Hodges Fund, Craig isn't so quick to dismiss the heavy lifting it takes to run a mutual fund and oversee other investment portfolios.

"I've come to realize he's an amazing stock picker," Craig, 43, said of his father.

Father-and-child investment teams might appear to be quaint throwbacks to a time when taking over the family business was expected, but those who make a family business of managing money can often point to the numbers to quiet doubters.

The Hodges fund, for example, is up 12.1 percent this year and has a three-year and five-year annualized return of 23.2 percent.

Jeff Tjornehoj, an analyst at fund-tracker Lipper Inc., noted that family members who run mutual funds can share a common desire to guard their name with good performance.

"When the child grows up and learns at their parent's feet they definitely feel a sense of responsibility to maintain the quality and consistency of returns. There's a bit more pressure out there."

That pressure is likely enormous for some well-known family names.

Fidelity Investments, the nation's largest fund manager, is controlled by the Johnson family. Edward C. "Ned" Johnson III took over for his father in 1972 and has spent decades of his 50 years at the company as chief executive and chairman. His daughter, Abigail, who also works at the company, is often mentioned in discussions about succession.

Years of nose-pressed-to-the-window experience observing their parents and dinnertime discussions about investments can persuade children of mutual fund managers to follow their parents into the business.

Craig Hodges was hooked early. His father had given him and his brother and sister stocks in the types of companies whose businesses often intersect with childhood, in their case, McDonald's and Dr Pepper.

What kid, perhaps enamored of McDonald's french fries, wouldn't delight in knowing he owned the restaurant, or at least a piece of it?

Now, all the Hodges children work in various capacities at their family's Dallas-based company, which oversees assets of about $1.15 billion, including the $700 million Hodges Fund.

With the arrival of Father's Day, one wonders what the perfect gift might be for a financial dad. A tie? A stellar stock tip?

"In this business, you're always pretty immersed," said Jeff Bruce, who along with his father, Bob, runs the $386 million Bruce Fund in Chicago. "There's lot more to life than picking stocks," he cautioned, referring to the solid relationship he has built with his father.

Their fund has shown a return of 4.7 percent this year, as some of its investments are in cash, and a three-year annualized return of 20 percent and a five-year annualized return of 30.2 percent.

The pair took over the fund in 1983, when assets stood at about $1.8 million.

"Jeff was just getting out of school and I was by myself and I needed someone to help run the fund," said Bob, 75.

"I say we agree on 85 to 90 percent of the stuff we own. He double checks me and I double check him," he said.

His son agreed.

"You're always debating investment merits. I think if we both like it we buy a bunch. If one of us likes it a little we'll buy a little," the 47-year-old said.

Of course, as is often the case with family and with work, debates can arise.

"Sometimes the arguments are pretty good," Bob said. But the Bruces and other managers appear careful to avoid waiving the results of a bad call in the other's face.

"You can never to do that," the elder Bruce said. "Neither of us say anything about something that goes up or down, which is very nice. That just leads to bad feelings."

Don Hodges, 73, said that while he and his children haven't encountered many disagreements over the years, it's important to look past missteps.

"He makes his mistakes and I make mine," he said, referring to Craig. "We don't second guess each other because you can't be tentative in this business. If you let them bug you or you keep thinking about it it cripples you," he said of errors.

Tjornehoj noted that regardless of size, family-run funds must still be judged on their merits and even funds fortified with investment experience that spans generations can make mistakes. He said investors should always still look for funds with good track records and low expenses.

Though he joked that if mistakes are made at such a family-run shops, a course correction can occur quickly.

"This is a rare opportunity for a boss to slap his employee upside the head without getting a call from human resources."