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What is a mutual fund?

These days you are hearing more and more about mutual funds as a means of investment. If you are like most people, you probably have most of your money in a bank savings account and your biggest investment may be your home. Apart from that, investing is probably something you simply do not have the time or knowledge to get involved in. You are not the only one. This is why investing through mutual funds has become such a popular way of investing.

What is a Mutual Fund?

A mutual fund is a pool of money from numerous investors who wish to save or make money just like you. Investing in a mutual fund can be a lot easier than buying and selling individual stocks and bonds on your own. Investors can sell their shares when they want.

Professional Management. Each fund's investments are chosen and monitored by qualified professionals who use this money to create a portfolio. That portfolio could consist of stocks, bonds, money market instruments or a combination of those.

Fund Ownership. As an investor, you own shares of the mutual fund, not the individual securities. Mutual funds permit you to invest small amounts of money, however much you would like, but even so, you can benefit from being involved in a large pool of cash invested by other people. All shareholders share in the fund' s gains and losses on an equal basis, proportionately to the amount they've invested.

Mutual Funds. are Diversified by investing in mutual funds, you could diversify your portfolio across a large number of securities so as to minimise risk. By spreading your money over numerous securities, which is what a mutual fund does, you need not worry about the fluctuation of the individual securities in the fund's portfolio.

Mutual Fund Objectives. There are many different types of mutual funds, each with its own set of goals. The investment objective is the goal that the fund manager sets for the mutual fund when deciding which stocks and bonds should be in the fund's portfolio.

For example, an objective of a growth stock fund might be: This fund invests primarily in the equity markets with the objective of providing long-term capital appreciation towards meeting your long-term financial needs such as retirement or a child' s education.

Depending on investment objectives, funds can be broadly classified in the following 5 types:

 

Closed-End Funds

A closed-end fund has a fixed number of shares outstanding and operates for a fixed duration (generally ranging from 3 to 15 years). The fund would be open for subscription only during a specified period and there is an even balance of buyers and sellers, so someone would have to be selling in order for you to be able to buy it. Closed-end funds are also listed on the stock exchange so it is traded just like other stocks on an exchange or over the counter. Usually the redemption is also specified which means that they terminate on specified dates when the investors can redeem their units.

Open-End Funds

An open-end fund is one that is available for subscription all through the year and is not listed on the stock exchanges. The majority of mutual funds are open-end funds. Investors have the flexibility to buy or sell any part of their investment at any time at a price linked to the fund's Net Asset Value.

In a nutshell, Mutual Funds are the simplest way to have a sound portfolio of investments, according to your financial goals. Moreover, they are the most economical way of benefiting from professional money management. Mutual Fund plans are specially designed for wealth creation, tax saving, personal savings and regular income. Even through Mutual Fund one can create a product like normal savings bank account.