What is the Difference between Hedge Funds and Mutual Funds?
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Mutual Funds are public, hedge funds are private.  Both require groups of investors, but hedge funds have few investors.
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In simplest terms, mutual funds are just groups of investments. They can be stocks, or bonds, or a combination of the two. They can even be investments in real estate (REITs).\n\nIn an active mutual fund, a fund manager decides what to purchase for the fund. In a stock fund, the manager picks the stocks to buy in hopes that the stocks will go up. In bond fund, he picks bonds. In some funds, the manager has the option of choosing between both stock and bonds. He may even decide buy nothing if he can't find anything worth buying, keeping cash on hand until he finds something worthwhile to buy.\n\nIn an index fund, a fund manager's main job is just to buy the stocks or bonds in an index. For example, in an S&P 500 stock fund, the manager's job is to buy all the stocks in S&P 500 and hold them.
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1) ETFs are essentially "static" as to buying and selling costs, whereas mutual funds are constantly turning over shares.\n2)  ETFs and foreign stocks:  Since ETFs are relatively static, the "set-up" commissions paid are one-shot costs
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A mutual fund is exactly what the name suggests.It is a fund Created mutually by a no. of investors like me and you.each investor contributes some amount towards the fund and in turn receives units of that mutual fund in proportion to his/her contribution.\n\nThe fund manager will in turn invest that money in the  market and try to generate profits by selling and buying at appropriate times.\n\nhe will then pass on the profits to mutual fund holders(like u and me) after deducting his fee/commission.\n\nmutual funds have a lot of benefits\n1)it takes out the burden of managing your own portfolio of stocks\n2) it provides investors an opportunity to invest in stocks which otherwise are very expensive for a single person to invest \n3)it provides you access to professional management of your investment.\n\nmutual funds are primarily of 3 types\n\n1)Equity oriented funds:most of the money would be invested in equity instruments(shares):high risk and high return.\n\n2)Growth oriented funds:most of the money is invested in Debt instruments e.g.Bonds,debentures etc.:low risk ,low return\n\n3)Balanced funds: half the money is invested in debt ,half in equity:moderate risk,moderate return \n\nhope this helps....cheers
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mutual fund, in finance, investment company or trust that has a very fluid capital stock. It is unique in that at any time it can sell or redeem any of its outstanding shares at net asset value (i.e., the price of a share equals total assets minus liabilities divided by the total number of shares). A mutual fund, also called an open-end investment company, owns the securities of several corporations and receives dividends on the shares that it holds. A closed-end investment company differs from an open-end company in that the number of shares is limited and the price of the shares may fluctuate above and below the net asset value. The earnings of a mutual fund are distributed to the holders of its shares. It is hoped that a loss on one holding will be made up by a gain on another. The holders of mutual-fund shares thus gain the advantage of diversification, which might ordinarily be beyond their means. Common mutual funds, which often provide skilled management for security holdings, include stock, bond, balanced, index, and money-market funds. Stock funds mainly invest in common shares, and bond funds in bonds; such funds may specialize in a particular category of stocks or bonds (such as Internet stocks or municipal bonds). A balanced fund might invest in preferred stocks and bonds in addition to common stocks. Index funds invest in a portfolio that mimics a given index, such as the stocks that make up the S&P 500. The forerunner of the modern mutual fund was established in Belgium in 1822, and the use of these closed-end investment companies soon spread to Great Britain and France. They became popular in the United States in the 1920s, but from the 1930s the open-end mutual fund became more popular. Mutual funds experienced a period of tremendous growth after World War II, especially in the 1980s and 90s.
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money market:  It is basically a mutual fund that invests in very short term debt instruments.  Normally it pays interest rates that are about currently 4% to 5% annually.\n\nMutual funds: these are managed pools of investment money. There are quite literally thousands to choose from.  Some are good buy many are not so good.  For a beginning investor, mutual funds offer a good option for long term investment.  Look to these companies for a wide variety of funds.  Fidelity, Vanguard, T. Rowe Price.  Look to this company for a selection of funds that invests in small cap stocks: Royce Funds.  Look to closed end funds to find funds that sell at a discount to net assets, a big plus.  GAM is one.  SWZ is another.  Both have excellent records.   IRAs.  There are two different kinds.  Roth IRAs and Traditional IRAs.  Roth IRAs in general offer investors the advantage that money earned in a Roth IRA is tax free, a very big advantage.  You can deposit up to $4000 annually into a Roth IRA with certain income limits which most people do not have trouble meeting.  After tax dollars are what are deposited into a Roth IRA.  Traditional IRAs are different.  Money deposited into a traditional IRA is not taxed until it is taken out.  But all money earned by a traditional IRA is taxed at the regular tax rate.  So investments made in a traditional IRA are best made in such things that would be taxed at the full rate anyway such as stripped U S bonds for example.  Variable annuities:  These are sold by basically insurance companies.  The insurance company then invests the funds into mutual funds that invest in the stock market.  The money earned in a variable annuity is taxed deferred until the annuity comes due.  I am not too familiar with the due date ramifications.  Something like 5 years or longer.\n\nIn my opinion Roth IRAs are a great deal.  \n\nOne thing I did not mention.  There is a penalty for withdrawing IRA funds prior to age 59 1/2.
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However much money you want to put into it.  A lot of times it depends on which company (Edward Jones, Vanguard, Fidelity, etc. etc.) you want to start it with and if you already have accounts w/these companies or not.  If you get a mutual fund through a company and you have a full-service one, then you will have to pay fees/commissions but its not much (like 5%) and its TOTALLY worth it b/c then you don't have to worry about, manage it, or diversify it.  And once you have the mutual fund, it will always grow unless there is a recession in the economy or a big stock market decrease.
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Just so you know, Mutual funds aren´t for everyone.  Personally, I wouldn´t invest in them unless I had to.  For more detail on that, just do a search for where I´ve addressed this question in other answers.\n\nHowever to answer your question, there are several rankings of mutual funds.  Here are some of the sources with appropriate link.\n\nLots of sources for Mutual fund reports that you´re looking for.  Here are some.\n\nMoney Magazine\nhttp://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bestfunds/indexfunds.html\n\nMorningstar\nhttp://www.morningstar.com/Cover/Funds.html?pgid=hetabfunds\n\nKiplingers\nhttp://www.kiplinger.com/personalfinance/investing/funds/?\n\nMutualFundRankings\nhttp://mutualfundrankings.org/\n\nAnd you may want to take a look at this article on mutual funds too just so you have a little more info if you´ve got tax concerns.\n\nhttp://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/93/930429Arc3288.html\n\nIf you have any questions, please let me know.\n\nHope that helps!\n\n\n\nInfo on mutual funds\nhttp://beginnersinvest.about.com/cs/mutualfunds1/a/aa031501.htm\n\nInvesting for Beginners\nhttp://beginnersinvest.about.com/popular.htm
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ADVANTAGES\n\nWhat are the key advantages of mutual fund investing?\n\nDiversification\n\nUsing mutual funds can help an investor diversify their portfolio with a minimum investment.  When investing in a single fund, an investor  is actually investing in numerous securities.  Spreading your investment across a range of securities can help to reduce risk.  A stock mutual fund, for example, invests in many stocks - hundreds or even thousands.  This minimizes the risk attributed to a concentrated position.  If a few securities in the mutual fund lose value or become worthless, the loss maybe offset by other securities that appreciate in value.  Further diversification can be achieved by investing in multiple funds which invest in different sectors or categories.  This helps to reduce the risk associated with a specific industry or category.  Diversification may help to reduce risk but will never completely eliminate it.  It is possible to lose all or part of your investment.\n\n Professional Management:\n\nMutual funds are managed and supervised by investment professionals.  As per the stated objectives set forth in the prospectus, along with prevailing market conditions and other factors, the mutual fund manager will decide when to buy or sell securities.  This eliminates the investor of the difficult task of trying to time the market.  Furthermore, mutual funds can eliminate the cost an investor would incur when proper due diligence is given to researching securities.  This cost of managing numerous securities is dispersed among all the investors according to the amount of shares they own with a fraction of each dollar invested used to cover the expenses of the fund.  What does this mean?  Fund managers have more money to research more securities more in depth than the average investor.  \n\nConvenience:\n\nWith most mutual funds, buying and selling shares, changing distribution options, and obtaining information can be accomplished conveniently by telephone, by mail, or online.\n\nAlthough a fund's shareholder is relieved of the day-to-day tasks involved in researching, buying, and selling securities, an investor will still need to evaluate a mutual fund based on investment goals and risk tolerance before making a purchase decision.  Investors should always read the prospectus carefully before investing in any mutual fund.\n\nLiquidity:\n\nMutual fund shares are liquid and orders to buy or sell are placed during market hours.  However, orders are not executed until the close of business when the NAV (Net Average Value) of the fund can be determined.  Fees or commissions may or may not be applicable.  Fees and commissions are determined by the specific fund and the institution that executes the order.\n\nMinimum Initial Investment:\n\nMost funds have a minimum initial purchase of $2,500 but some are as low as $1,000.  If you purchase a mutual fund in an IRA, the minimum initial purchase requirement tends to be lower.  You can buy some funds for as little as $50 per month if you agree to dollar-cost average, or invest a certain dollar amount each month or quarter.\n\n \n\nDISADVANTAGES \n\nRisks and Costs:\n\nChanging market conditions can create fluctuations in the value of a mutual fund investment.\n\nThere are fees and expenses associated with investing in mutual funds that do not usually occur when purchasing individual securities directly.\n\nAs with any type of investment, there are drawbacks associated with mutual funds. \n\nNo Guarantees.  The value of your mutual fund investment, unlike a bank deposit, could fall and be worth less than the principle initially invested. And, while a money market fund seeks a stable share price, its yield fluctuates, unlike a certificate of deposit. In addition, mutual funds are not insured or guaranteed by an agency of the U.S. government.  Bond funds, unlike purchasing a bond directly, will not re-pay the principle at a set point in time. \n\nThe Diversification "Penalty."
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sponsor puts together a basket of stocks or bonds and sells units to the public. sponsor takes management fees and the firm that sells it to you takes a big fat commission. usually not as liquid as a mutual fund or ETF. not the best way to invest your money.
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Mutual funds are a type of investment, where professional managers use your money to buy a variety of stocks (or bonds). It spreads the risk among more diverse investments so they are better than buying a single stock.\n\nIf you mean by investing in banks simply putting your money in the bank and earning interest. Then YES, mutual funds are better than that because banks pay almost no interest.
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A mutual fund is a corporation operating under the Investment Company Act of 1940 as an open end investment company.  It also complies with certain restrictions under the Internal Revenue Code.\n\nThe owners of the corporation are prorata owners of a pool of investments.  The Investment Company Act, and to some extent the Internal Revenue Code, restrict what assets can be included.  However, these restrictions are mostly minimal and in some instances optional if disclosed properly.\n\nMutual funds are unique in that their shares are both continually offered and continually redeemed.  What makes this different from an ordinary company is that the company issues as many shares as the public wants and will redeem them on demand (there are restrictions on both of these statements but they don't usually apply).  If you had wanted to buy shares in IBM, you would have to buy them from an existing shareholder.  If you wanted to buy shares in a mutual fund, the company will produce as many as you are willing to buy and will sell fractional shares as well.  Likewise, if you wanted to sell shares in IBM, you would take them to the market to find a buyer.  The mutual fund itself will buy back all shares at the next valuation price (usually that means an order today will not occur until tomorrow).\n\nThe funds self-restrict their investments to allow shareholders to anticipate what is likely to occur.
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Mutual funds are a group of investors, that usually don't have enough money at one time, pooling there money together to maximize their buying power and  with more money they buy many different stocks in many different companies so that they limit their risk of loss by not investing in one company( or putting your eggs in one basket) Do to the fact that they pool their money the mutual fund can then afford a professional fund manager to pick which stocks, bonds, or money markets to invest in.  Also there are many types of funds, some balanced meaning they invest in all three, stocks, bonds, and money markets, simultaneously and some invest all in stocks, or bonds, or money markets individually. Anyway that is another big discussion. I hope that this helps you out.\n\nRemember mutual funds will never have the big returns of individual stocks but there wont be the losses either.\n\nAverage gains of 8% to 12% over the life of the fund should not be too hard to get.
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Enjoy the reading.\n\nThey operate through private placements and restrict share ownership to rich individuals and institutions frees them from most disclosure and regulation requirements that apply to mutual funds and banks.\n\nFor present purposes, three main classes of hedge funds can be identified: \n\nmacro funds, which take large directional (unhedged) positions in national markets based on top-down analysis of macroeconomic and financial conditions, including the current account, the inflation rate, and the real exchange rate; \n\nglobal funds, which also take positions worldwide, but employ bottom-up analysis, picking stocks on the basis of individual companies' prospects; and \n\nrelative value funds, which take bets on the relative prices of closely related securities (treasury bills and bonds, for example).
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Mutual funds do not "default," it is not a term applied to mutual funds.  However, the mutual fund can invest in something, like a bond, where the issuer defaults.  Then you the investor lose money.
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It depends on the share class. There are A, B and C shares to almost every mutual fund. Each have a different fee structure.\n\nThis link below will help you...
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Try some of these links:\n\nhttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&oi=defmore&defl=en&q=define:Mutual+fund\nhttp://www.mfea.com/\nhttp://www.guardfamily.org/B06/B0601/A0001_D/glossary/bhs04_glossary.html