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Chapter 15. Mutual Funds: An Easy Way to Diversify. What Is a Mutual Fund?. Investment company that pools money from investors to buy stocks, bonds, and other investments. Investors own a share of the fund proportionate to the amount of the investment. Why Invest in Mutual Funds?.
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Chapter 15 Mutual Funds: An Easy Way to Diversify
What Is a Mutual Fund? Investment company that pools money from investors to buy stocks, bonds, and other investments. Investors own a share of the fund proportionate to the amount of the investment.
Why Invest in Mutual Funds? • Benefit the small investor – diversification and reduced risk. • Level the playing field between corporations and the individual investor.
Advantages of Mutual Fund Investing • Diversification -- owning numerous securities reduces risk • Professional management • Minimal transaction costs • Liquidity • Flexibility • Service • Avoidance of bad brokers
Disadvantages of Mutual Fund Investing • Lower-than-market performance • 1989-1998, average annual returns • actively managed stock funds, 15.6% • S & P 500 stock index, 19.2% • Costs • Risks -- Unsystematic risk • Risk -- Systematic risk • Capital gains taxes
To Operate, Mutual Funds • Pool money from investors with similar goals. • Invest in numerous securities. • Hire a management company to run the fund.
To Operate, Mutual Funds (cont’d) • Hire an investment advisor to manage the fund’s portfolio • Hire a • a custodian to safeguard fund holdings • a transfer agent to act as recordkeeper • an underwriter to sell new shares
Ways of Making Money With Mutual Funds • Increases in market value (appreciation) • Dividends • Capital gains distribution
Types of Investment Companies • Open-end investment companies or mutual funds • Closed-end investment companies or mutual funds • Unit investment trusts • Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
Open-End Investment Companies or Mutual Funds • Have an unlimited number of shares • Buy and sell shares directly to investors without a secondary market • Purchase and selling price is determined by the net asset value of the fund • NAV = value of all securities - liabilities total shares outstanding
Closed-End Investment Companies or Mutual Funds • Have a limited number of shares • Sell only the initial offering. Subsequent trades are done in a secondary market, similar to the common stock market. • Purchase and selling price is determined by supply and demand.
Unit Investment Trusts • Fixed pool of securities, normally municipal bonds • Have shares that represent a proportionate share of the trust • Are passive investments that operate on a buy-and-hold strategy • Normally require $1,000 minimum investment • Long time horizon recommended
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) • Professional managers invest pooled funds in a diversified portfolio of real estate. • Require that 75% of fund income is generated from real estate investments and must distribute 95% of income as dividends.
Real Estate Investment Trusts (cont’d) • Have 3 types (equity; mortgage; hybrid). • Lack the liquidity of most mutual funds, but more liquidity than direct real estate investments. • Actively traded REITs recommended. • Offer diversification independent of the stock market.
Equity REITs • Buy property directly • Manage the property • Investors hope the real estate appreciates in value
Mortgage REITs • Buy mortgages. • Do not have any capital appreciation. • Investors only receive interest payments on the mortgages.
Hybrid REITs • Invest in both properties and mortgages. • Investments result in both capital appreciation and interest income.
The Costs of Mutual Funds • Load funds-- sales commissions charged to the investor when purchasing fund shares. • Back-end load funds -- commissions charged to the investor when selling the shares; may be a sliding scale. • No-load funds -- no commission charged.
The Costs of Mutual Funds (cont’d) • Management fees and expenses -- fees associated with the operation of the company. • expense ratio • turnover rate • 12b-1 fees -- fees charged to cover the fund’s cost of advertising and marketing.
Types and Objectives of Mutual Funds • Money market mutual funds • Stock mutual funds • Balanced mutual funds • Asset allocation funds • Life-cycle funds • Bond funds
Money Market Mutual Funds (MMMFs) • Invest in short-term securities with maturities of less than 30 days • Trade at a constant net asset value of $1 per share • Work much like an interest bearing checking account with some limitations • Considered practically risk free
Specialized Types of MMMFs • Tax-exempt MMMFs -- invest in only muni’s • Government securities MMMFs -- invest in government paper to reduce risk, but lower return
Stock Mutual Funds • Aggressive growth funds • Small-company growth funds • Growth funds • Growth-and-income funds • Sector funds • Index funds • International funds
Balanced Mutual Funds • Try to balance objectives of long-term growth, income, and stability of the capital invested • Invest in common stock, preferred stock, and bonds • Less volatile than stock funds
Asset Allocation Funds • Are similar to balanced mutual funds in the mix of securities • Practice market timing to attempt to outperform the market • Risky due to the turnover rate and associated transaction costs
Life-Cycle Funds • Are similar to asset allocation funds. • Tailor holdings to best meet the needs of investors in a certain stage of the life cycle, such as age or risk tolerance.
Bond Funds • A small investment buys shares in a diversified bond portfolio. • More liquid than individual bonds. • Provide professional management. • Provide regular income.
Bond Funds (cont’d) • Can incur more expenses than purchasing bonds directly. • Don’t mature to pay a guaranteed lump sum investment like individual bonds do.
Types of Bond Funds • U.S. government and GNMA bond funds • Municipal bond funds • Corporate bond funds • Specialized maturity length (short-, intermediate-, and long-term) funds
Services Offered by Mutual Funds • Automatic investment and withdrawal plans • Automatic reinvestment of interest, dividends, and capital gains • Wiring and funds express options • Phone switching • Easy establishment of retirement plans • Check writing • Bookkeeping and help with taxes
Buying a Mutual Fund • Step 1: Determine your investment goals. • Step 2: Identify funds that meet your objectives. • Step 3: Evaluate the fund.
Step 1: Determine Your Investment Goals • Determine your time horizon for each goal • Determine your risk tolerance • Determine your personal investment preferences • Determine your tax planning strategies
Step 2: Identify Funds That Meet Your Objectives • Look to third-party publications • Morningstar Mutual Funds • Determine the fund’s objective • Determine the fund’s investment style • value • growth • Read the prospectus
Information Contained in the Prospectus • The fund’s goal and investment strategy • The fund manager’s past experience • Any limitation on investments that the fund may have • Any tax considerations of importance to the investors
Information Contained in the Prospectus (cont’d) • The redemption and investment process for buying and selling shares in the fund • Services provided investors • Performance over the past 10 years or since the fund has been in existence • Fund fees and expenses • The fund’s annual turnover ratio
Step 3: Evaluate the Fund • Always compare funds with the same objective. • Evaluate the fund’s long-term performance. • Look at returns in both up and down markets.
Sources of Information • The Wall Street Journal • Forbes or Business Week • Kiplinger’s Personal Finance • Smart Money or Consumer Reports • Wiesenberger Investment Companies Service • Morningstar Mutual Funds
Mutual Fund Quotes in The Wall Street Journal • NAV – net asset value (price) • NAV change – gain or loss from prior day’s NAV • Total return – NAV change plus accumulated income • Total return – NAV change plus income for different time periods, in percent.
Mutual Fund Quotes (cont’d) • Ranking – Performance comparison among funds with same objective for different time periods. • Max initial sales com – the largest allowable sales commission charged • Annual Exp – covers all expenses associated with running and advertising the fund
Calculating Fund Returns • Returns include distributions of dividends, distributions of capital gains, or NAV appreciation Total return = dividends + capital gains + (ending NAV – beginning NAV) beginning NAV
Calculating Fund Returns • With reinvestment of all distributions, total return includes the NAV share increase and the increased number of shares Total return = (No. of ending shares x ending price) – (No. of beginning shares x beginning price) (No. of beginning shares x beginning price)
Making the Purchase • Buy through a financial services broker, banker, planner • Probably a load • Buy directly from the mutual fund – • No load • 1-800… • Internet
Making the Purchase (cont’d) • Buy through a “mutual fund supermarket” • 8 major players, 3 largest include: • Fidelity Funds Network • Charles Schwab • Jack White • Minimum account balances vary • Transaction fees vary
Summary • What is a mutual fund and how does it operate? • Mutual fund advantages and disadvantages • Types of investment companies • Open and closed end mutual funds • Unit investment trusts • REITs
Summary (cont’d) • Costs of owning a mutual fund • Loads -- front-end and back-end • Fees -- management and 12b-1 • Understand fund objectives and categories • Understand fund services
Summary (cont’d) • Sources of mutual fund investment information • Newspapers, magazines, Internet • Investment company prospectus • How do you buy a mutual fund? • Types of mutual fund returns • Dividends or capital gains distributions • NAV appreciation