wtf r mutual funds?

Question

i really want to start investing in mutual funds but would really like to know more b4 i start to invest any money into it.any info/resourses on mutual funds will b greatly appreciated:)

Answer 1

What is a mutual fund?

It is a financial institution whose business is investing other people's money. By pooling their resources, investors obtain supervision and diversification of their investments. Mutual funds shares are ordinarily redeemable by the holder at any given time at net asset value. In most cases, new shares are offered for sale continuously at net asset value plus a fixed percentage as a sales charge. The assets of a mutual fund are actual securities which it purchases, and its income consists of dividends and interests on these securities. The earnings of the business are paid out in the form of dividends and capital gains distributions to the shareholders. Mutual funds do not issue bonds, debentures, or preferred stock.

Investors should carefully read the fund's prospectus before investing. You should look at annual fees associated and its performance history. You should read what is the fund's goal or objective and who is managing it.

Answer 2

Dude! I had mutual funds in the 90's and they were my worst investment. I really dont see what is all the hype is either. Mutual funds can loss vaule just like stocks. When people panic, there will be a surge of people wanting there money. This happened in the early 2000 when some funds lost half of there vaule. then there are some funds that have never recovered and some were put with other funds. I sugest you start reading some books and learn about the market.

Answer 3

Mutual funds are like investing in the stock market except with a stock market, there is more risk & you will worry more depending on how much you invest, you can lose all of it in a day, but with the mutual fund, you are safer. You can choose an agressive fund or a less agressive fund and your returns over a certain period can either grow or stay steady. Call someone like Dreyfus or any other mutual fund company and they can tell you more about it, how much $$ to open an account, etc. They won't charge you for the call.

Answer 4

A Mutual Fund is exactly what it sounds like. Its a professionally managed account that pools the resources of many individual investors and invest that money into stocks/securities. The company that runs/manages the fund will charge a fee/commission for managing the funds assets. Thats how they make their money.

Mutual Funds will all offer a prospectus. This tells potential investors how the money in the fund will be invested. Say you wanted to invest your money in technology stocks, or perhaps international stocks; you could find a fund that specialized in investing in those specific areas so you could diversify your investments or target specific areas you felt offered the greatest potential for return. Funds will also disclose their prior performance to help you itentify which funds are likely to do good in the future. Remeber that past performance does not always indicate future results and often past results were achieved with different Fund Managers. Read carefully cause you might do better following the Fund Manager that left to run another fund than sticking with his/her old fund hoping the new guy can match their previous results.

There are 1000's upon 1000's of Mutual Funds and I personally do not like them. Between the fees and commisions, along with the restrictions placed on them by their prospectus a vast majority tend to underperform the general market. There are also tax implications to investing in mutual funds alot of people dont understand going into them along with complicated fee structures etc. Investigate equivalent investment options like ETF's before investing alot of money into a mutual fund. They often offer similar investments, are traded like stocks so you only have the commision on your transactions instead of a management fee, and you control the tax consequenses, not end up with a big tax bill from a fund churning its investments throughout the year.

If your still determined to invest in funds remember what I said about fund managers. Also don't let a Brokerage like Schwab, Fidelety steer you into one of their funds or settle for the funds they offer. If you find a fund your really interested in, find a broker that will put you into that fund,. Dont let some salesman that makes a bigger commission selling you a "similar" fund that has their name on it put you in theirs.

Answer 5

mutual funds are a collection of different stocks managed by a professional company. You buy them like a stock. You sell them like a stock.

Upsides:
-you have professionals looking after the basket of stocks. They will buy and sell individual stocks day after day with expert opinion.
-it trades like a single stock
-you are diversified (no single stock can ruin you...for instance Enron going bankrupt). More diversity=less volatility.
-it represents a huge variety of companies...more than if you bought individual shares yourself. Many funds have anywhere from 25-1000 different stocks.

Downsides
-expenses. The management company takes a cut every year. Usually as low as .25% to as high as 7%
-sales commissions. Most brokers will earn a commission from selling you one.
-Less volatility means less upside profit. Since there are so many stocks, chances of you making 50% or 200% profit in a single year is almost improbable.

Answer 6

The simplist answer is: A group of different funds, generally with the same goal, ie. aggressive, etc. This group will have up to 200 different funds (companies) which your money is divided. Basically, instead of an individual stock, you are spreading the risk.. There are many resources available ie. look up MF as a google search, look up fund companies, etc... Hope this helps.

Answer 7

Mutual funds are pools of stocks, bonds, or both...even alternative investments like options and futures, managed by a manager or managers for the benefit of the shareholders.

For more info: morningstar.com

Enjoy

Answer 8

If you want to clean your teeth, you will go to a dentist. Samething, If you want to be financialy ok, You have to search the professionals managing your money. Professionals mananging your money manages mine as well. The profession is known as AMC. The scheme he has is Mutual fund

Answer 9

mutual funds are managed by professional asset managers. they allocate the funds depending on risk, diversification, and return potential. you should research on your risk tolerance and investment horizon before you choose what type of mutual fund you want to invest in.

Answer 10

look here this might answer your question I hope and here is a definition of it that I got from www.dictionary.com

mutual fund
n.
An investment company that continually offers new shares and buys existing shares back at the request of the shareholder and uses its capital to invest in diversified securities of other companies.