A mutual fund is a type of financial vehicle made up of a pool of money collected from many investors to invest in securities like stock, bonds, money market instruments, and other assets. Mutual funds are operated by professional money managers who allocate the funds assets and attempt to produce capital gains or income for the fund’s investors.
A mutual funds portfolio is structured and maintained to match the investment objectives stated in his prospectus. The mutual funds pull Money from multiple retail investors. Retail investors received a share in the form of units. The fund managers, using their expertise, invest in stocks and bonds on behalf of the investors.
Once the funds earn returns it is distributed to the investors in the proportion to their investment. Mutual funds invest in a vast number of securities and performance is usually tracked as the changes in the total market cap of the fund derived by aggregating the performance of the underlying investment.
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How do I understand the mutual fund:
Mutual funds pull money from the investing public and use that money to buy other securities, usually stocks and bonds. The value of the mutual fund company depends on the performance of the securities it decides to buy.
So when one buys a unit or share of a mutual fund, the person is the portfolio’s value. Investing in a share of mutual funds is different from investing in a share of stock. Unlike stock, mutual funds shares do not give it’s holder any voting right,a share of a mutual fund represents other securities instead of just one holding.
Mutual funds can help one becomes rich by investing in them, because of compound interest, your investment will likely grow in value over time.
What are the types of mutual funds:
There are four broad types of mutual funds:
- Equity(stocks)
- Fixed-income(bonds)
- Balanced or hybrid funds(both stocks and bonds)
- money market funds(short term debt)
Equity funds:
The largest category of a mutual fund is equity or stock funds. As the name implies this sort of fund invests principally on stocks. Some equity funds are named for the size of the company they invest in either small, mid or large-cap, others are named by their investment approach is aggressive growth, income-oriented, value, and other equity fund are also characterized by whether they invest in domestic (US) stocks or foreign equities. There are so many types of equities.
The term value fund is refers to a style of investing that looks for high quality,low growth companies that are out of favor with the market. These companies are characterized by low price-earnings (P/E) ratios,low price to book (P/B) ratios and high dividends yield.
Conversely, spectrum are growth funds, which look to companies that had and are expected to have strong growth in earnings sales and cash flows. These companies have high (P/E) ratios and do not pay dividends.
A compromise between strict value and growth investment is a “blend” which simply refers to companies that are neither value nor growth stocks and are classified as being somewhere in the middle between small and large-cap.
Fixed income funds:
Fixed group is a big group of mutual funds. A fixed income mutual fund focuses on investments that pay a set rate of return such as government bonds, corporate bonds,or other debt instruments. The idea is that the fund portfolio generates interest income, which it then passed on to the shareholders.
The Fixed-income fund is sometimes referred to as bond funds,these funds are often actively managed and seek to buy relatively undervalued bonds in order to sell them at profit.
These mutual funds are likely to pay higher returns than certificates of deposit and money market investments, but bond funds are not without risk in that there are different types of bonds and bond funds can vary depending on where they are invested.
Balanced funds:
Balanced funds invest in a hybrid of assets classes, whether stock or bonds, money market instrument or alternative investments. The objective is to reduce the risk of exposure across assets classes. This kind of fund is also known as an asset allocation fund. There are two variations of such funds designed to cater to the investor’s objectives.
Some funds are defined with a specific allocation strategy, that is, fixed,so the investors can have a predictable exposure to various asset classes. Other funds follow a strategy for dynamic allocation in percentages to meet various investors objectives.
This may include responding to market conditions, business cycle changes or the changing phrases of the investors life.
How does mutual funds works:
A mutual fund is both an investment and an actual company. This dual nature may seem strange, but it is no different from how a share of AAPL is represented of Apple incorporated.
When an investor buys any stock, he is buying partial ownership of the company and its assets. Similarly,a mutual fund investor is buying partial ownership of the mutual fund company and its assets.
Investors typically earn returns from a mutual fund in three ways:
✓ If fund holding increases in price are not sold by the fund managers,the fund shares increased in price. You can then sell your mutual fund shares for a profit in the market.
✓ income is earned from dividends on stocks and interest bonds held in funds portfolio. A fund pays out nearly all of the income,it’s receives over the year to fund owners in the form of distribution. Funds often gives investors a choice either to receive check for distribution or to reinvest the earnings and get more shares.
✓ If the fund sells securities that have increased in price, the fund has a capital gain. Most funds also pass on these gain to investors in a distribution.
History of mutual funds:
The first modern investment fund the precursor of mutual funds were established in Dutch Republic. In response to the crisis of 1772, Amsterdam-based business man Abraham (or Adrian)Van Ketwich form a trust named Eendragt Maakgmagt(unity create strength) his aim was to provide small investors with opportunity to diversify.
Mutual funds were introduced to the United States in the 1890s. Earlier the US funds were generally closed-ended funds with a fixed number of shares that often trade at prices above the portfolio’s net asset value. The first mutual fund with redeemable shares was established on March 21, 1924 as the Massachusetts investors trust which is still in existence today and managed by MFS investment management.
What are the advantages of mutual funds:
✓ professional Management:
Mutual funds account are managed by qualified professionals. These professionals only invest after careful analysis of the performance and prospects of different securities. It is a continuous process that takes time and expertise which will add value to your investment.
✓ Diversification:
Mutual funds spread their holding across various investment vehicles, reducing effect any single security or class of securities has on the overall portfolio because mutual funds contains hundreds and thousands of securities. Investors are less affected if one security under-performs.
✓ Liquidity:
With open end funds,one can redeem all or part of their investment any time they wish and receive the current value of the shares. Moreover, the process is standardized, making it swift and efficient.
✓Regulations:
Mutual funds are required to be registered with the securities and exchange commission. They oblige to follow strict regulations designed to protect investors.
✓Transparency:
As a unit-holder, you are provided with regular updates for example daily bids o offer prices as well as information on the funds holding and the funds manager’s strategy
✓ Affordable:
As a small investor , you may not be able to buy shares from larger companies. With mutual funds small investors can get started because of the minimal investment requirement.
Mutual funds help one to meet savings and investment goals and priorities. They are operated by professional funds managers, who invest the fund capital and attempt to produce capital gains and income for the investors. Every mutual fund is designed to spread around risk while capturing wider market gains
