Explain Mutual Funds?
535179
mutual funds ..as the name suggests is pool of funds contributed by large no. of individuals which is invested by financial experts in different fields to give a good retuen on the investment to the contributers. A company, trust, financial instituion as the case may be in a country invites funds from individuals and hires experts to invets the same into equity, debt, commodities and even real estate to generate profitable returns on them and investors thus gain from their investment as the profits made on investments are distributed among different contibuters to the fund in the ratio of their contribution. thus mutual funds help small investors to gain advantages of diversified portfolio and gain from specialised knowledge of experts who invest the money. to know more email me at siderminator@yahoo.co.in
325356
Here is what I suggest. Go to Yahoo mutual fund screen. And imput the parameters of the type of fund you wish to consider and see what pops up. \n\nHere is the link.\n\nThe second link is one of the screens I ran. It shows funds that are no load, with low initial investment that are ranked at least 4 star by Morningstar and are in the top 30% for one year performance.
1171141
Invest in HDFC Prudence........]\nYou can get more infos at\nhttp://www.valueresearchonline.com\nhttp://www.moneycontrol.com/mutualfundindia/\nhttp://mutualfunds.moneycontrol.com/mf/bestpicks/index.php\n\nYou can select the fund depending uopn your preferences and risk taking ability.
262385
They are private funds similar to mutual funds that are managed in a similar manner. they usually require a hefty minimum to get in. Mostly wealthy investors.
966502
There are several types of Mutual Funds:\n\nSector-based: These invest only in a particular sector Eg. IT, Telecom, Petrochemical, etc\n\nIndex-based: These invest only in the Index i.e. BSE Sensex, NSE Sensex. Their valuation is based on the value of the Index and not directly on any particular share.\n\nGrowth-fund:They generally invest in equity across sectors and try to maximise their gain wherever possible.\n\nMid-cap/ Small-cap Fund: They invest only in mid-cap or small-cap companies. Though the returns can be very high, so are the risks.\n\nBalance Fund: They invest both in debt and equity so as to provide good growth through equity and safety but low returns through debt.
244830
Although the question is not entirely clear, I'll take a stab at it.\n\nShares typically mean shares of stock in a specific company, e.g. shares of stock in Microsoft.\n\nFunds typically refers to Mutual Funds.  Mutual Funds (of the equity variety) own shares of stock in many companies, thus diversifying risk for the investor.  An investor in a mutual funds, in essence, owns a pro rata share of all the stocks that the mutual fund owns.
17439
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
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The shares of closed-end mutual funds trade on one of the stock exchanges. These funds have a fixed number of shares outstanding. The price they trade at from day to day is usually different than what the shares are worth. This is referred to as a "discount" or a "premium".\n\nOpen end mutual funds are bought and sold directly through the mutual fund company, or a broker who trades in mutual funds. The fund issues new shares if there are more buyers than sellers, and vice versa. The fund shares are bought or sold at exactly what they are worth at the time. Share values are calculated at the end of each business day.\n\nThe above applies to real estate funds, as well as to other types of funds.
742738
mutual funds are pools of money, invested in varying amounts by a large number of people. the money is invested according to a specific objective. a professional fund manager runs the fund and sees to it that the investments are in accordance witht he stated objective of the fund. these types of investments have enabled small investors to purchase diversified portfolios with the use of professional managers.
436201
A Mutual Fund is a collective fund pooled by an enterprise from the investors having mutual interest. The fund collections shall be invested by the Fund manager in the stocks traded on the exchange. The type & mode of investment made by the Fund Manager shall be made specific to the investors at the time of collecting the amount from them. There are lot of mutual funds availble in the market like Morgan Stanley ... etc.,. The mutual funds are governed by laws of the respective country.
435907
you can find lots of easy-to-read explanations of mutual funds here: http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics\n\nbse sensex refers to the bombay stock exchange, the major trading index for india: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSE_Sensex\n\nyou can trade for free on the bse sensex here: http://bsesensex.freetradingsystem.net/?OVRAW=BSE_Sensex&OVKEY=bse%20sensex&OVMTC=standard
283269
Since every individual cannot become expert for trading in stock market and making large money due to lack of time and expertise.Due to this limitation the concept of Mutual Fund (MF) has come into picture.\n\nMF is a trust created by a trustee. For eg. In india Reliance Mutual fund is created by Reliance Capital who is a trustee. That MF collects funds from retail individuals and invest in the market. For doing this MF hires Fund Managers called FMC. They are group of experts who form a company and render services to any individual MF. They will be paid for their services. And when the retail investor request for redemption of funds. The MF sells the shares to that extent and return the money to the individual. The valuation is based on NAV (Net Asset Value). This figure is calculated everyday on the basis of the value of whole portfolio at the end of everyday. So the day when you invest the money will be converted to units (not shares) at that day's NAV and then when you sell those units will be muntiplied by the NAV on selling day and gives you money back. \n\nHope I am clear and elaborate enough.
349626
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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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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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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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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You can find a lot of past performance of mutual funds on this web site.     http://www.micropal.com/\nalthough past return is no guarantee of future results - still, it could be used as an estimate.\n\nIf you want to calculate what an investment of $37,940 would add up to if it grew at 5% per year, just type this formula into an excel sheet:\n  =FV(0.05,30,,-37940)\nA whopping $163,974!