Posts Tagged ‘Mutual Funds’

All about Mutual Funds – How does Mutual Fund work

November 13th, 2022

Mutual Funds collect or pool money from investors. This money put together is then invested. Through this article, let’s learn more about mutual funds for beginners…

Investors are looking for avenues that help them grow their money and achieve their financial goals. Investing in stock markets is one such avenue that can help investors grow their money over the long term. But investing in the stock market may not be easy for the first-time investor. Mutual Fund investments on the other hand simplify the process of investing in a pool of diversified stocks,Guest Posting thus taking the hassle out of stock selection for beginners by allowing them to invest in mutual funds.

The meaning of mutual funds is that it is a financial instrument that essentially collects money from investors and puts them in a basket of diversified securities. Let’s understand more about mutual funds and its types.

Types of Mutual Funds

There are three types of mutual funds classified based on their underlying assets. These include:

Equity Mutual Funds: Equity Mutual Fund is a type of mutual fund that invests in stocks that have the potential to grow and generate wealth over the long term. These funds can, in turn, be classified based on market capitalization, i.e. Large cap, Midcap and Small-cap. It can also be classified based on a theme or a sector such as healthcare or IT. Investors can choose equity funds based on their investment horizon and their financial goal.

Debt Mutual Funds: Debt Mutual Fund is a type of mutual fund that invests in fixed income securities issued by the Government or corporates. These include treasury bills, certificates of deposit, debentures, corporate bonds, etc. These can be classified based on their duration (short-term or Long Term Debt Funds called Gilt Funds).

Hybrid Mutual Funds: This is a type of mutual fund that invests in debt, equity-related instruments and gold or other commodity. The objective of this fund is to balance the risk-reward potential for its investors. The equity component enables capital appreciation thereby generating wealth for investors while the debt component acts as a portfolio diversifier and diversify the impact of volatility.
Five Features of Mutual Funds

These are the five features of mutual funds:

Mutual Funds are managed by professional fund managers.
Mutual Funds can be open-ended or close-ended.
Mutual Fund diversifies investor’s money by investing across asset classes
It offers different options according to the investor’s goals, duration, or risk profile
Mutual funds guarantee no fixed returns
Advantages of Mutual Funds

These are the five key advantages of mutual funds:

Liquidity – One of the key benefits about mutual funds is that it offers liquidity and can be redeemed completely or partially and at the prevailing NAV (net asset value).
Transparency: Investors can be at ease about mutual funds since they are regulated by the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and allows them to track and monitor their mutual fund performance.
Diversification: Mutual funds invest in different stocks and multiple securities, thereby offering diversification and reducing the downside risk of investing in just one stock. A typical equity fund could hold about 35-60 stocks.
Suitable for any wallet size: The good thing about Mutual Fund Investment is that it can be started using a monthly SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) as low as Rs. 500.
Professional Fund Management: Mutual funds are managed by qualified fund managers allowing you convenience and ease of investing.
Thus. mutual funds with the plethora of options and benefits make it a preferred choice for investors. It can help investors achieve their long-term and short -term objectives. Before investing, it is however important to know more about the mutual fund through its scheme information document (SID).

Disclaimer: The views expressed here in this Article / Video are for general information and reading purpose only and do not constitute any guidelines and recommendations on any course of action to be followed by the reader. Quantum AMC / Quantum Mutual Fund is not guaranteeing / offering / communicating any indicative yield on investments made in the scheme(s). The views are not meant to serve as a professional guide / investment advice / intended to be an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial product or instrument or mutual fund units for the reader. The Article / Video has been prepared on the basis of publicly available information, internally developed data and other sources believed to be reliable. Whilst no action has been solicited based upon the information provided herein, due care has been taken to ensure that the facts are accurate and views given are fair and reasonable as on date. Readers of the Article / Video should rely on information/data arising out of their own investigations and advised to seek independent professional advice and arrive at an informed decision before making any investments. None of the Quantum Advisors, Quantum AMC, Quantum Trustee or Quantum Mutual Fund, their Affiliates or Representative shall be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, punitive or exemplary losses or damages including lost profits arising in any way on account of any action taken basis the data / information / views provided in the Article / video.

Best No Load Mutual Funds: The Right Way to Look at Fees and Expenses

June 13th, 2022

While searching for the best no load mutual funds, some mutual fund investors often tend to focus exclusively on mutual fund fees and expense ratios. Is this always a smart way to select mutual funds?

Metrics such as price/earnings ratio and dividend yield on the S&P 500 index,Guest Posting a commonly used proxy for the U.S. stock market, are hardly at bargain levels. This has lead several market pundits to predict single digit annual returns for domestic mutual funds over the next decade.While pursuing the search for the best mutual fund, some mutual fund investors tend to focus exclusively on fees and expense ratios. The rationale is that by choosing mutual funds with low fees, investors will have more of their capital invested. Also, no load mutual funds with low expense ratios will pass on more of the returns they earn to their shareholders.Is shopping for the lowest fees and expense ratios a smart way to select mutual funds? Not always. The answer depends on the type of mutual fund you are evaluating, the time you can devote to evaluating and managing your mutual funds investments, and the type of cost incurred. Investing in the Best No Load Index Mutual Funds.If you believe markets are generally efficient and prefer to invest in an index mutual fund to achieve an index-like return, shopping for the best index mutual fund based on low fees and a low expense ratio makes good sense. The portfolio manager of an index mutual fund endeavors to invest the fund’s assets to track the index as closely and cost-effectively as possible. Larger index funds have an advantage in that they can spread their operating costs over a larger asset base.

Some of the interesting index mutual fund options currently available include no load index mutual funds like E*Trade S&P 500 Index Fund (Nasdaq: ETSPX), Fidelity Spartan 500 Index Fund (Nasdaq: FSMKX), and Vanguard 500 Index Fund (Nasdaq: VFINX) with expense ratios of 0.09%, 0.10%, and 0.18%, respectively.Investing in Actively Managed Mutual Funds and Strategies.Mutual fund fees and expenses are just one of several important factors to consider if you believe portfolio managers can add value and out-perform the index through active management. The portfolio manager’s ability and investing style are just as important. Therefore, seeking out the best mutual fund based on just low fees and a low expense ratio may not always be the right approach. It may just be a case of being ‘penny-wise and pound-foolish’.Legendary investor Peter Lynch, who managed the Fidelity Magellan Fund (Nasdaq: FMAGX) from 1977 to 1990, achieved returns well in excess of the market averages even after accounting for the fund’s fees and expenses.So too has Bill Miller who currently manages the Legg Mason Value Trust (Nasdaq: LMVTX). Even after accounting for its relatively high 1.7% expense ratio, this no load mutual fund has achieved compound annual returns of 18.6% for the 10 year period ending in 2004, well in excess of 12.0% for the Vanguard 500 Index mutual fund.AlphaProfit, an investment research firm that specializes in active sector investing, uses the no load Fidelity Select Funds to implement its investing strategy through its Core™ and Focus™ model portfolios. Although not the lowest, the expense ratio of the no load Fidelity Select Funds compares favorably with that of other sector fund offerings. AlphaProfit prefers Fidelity Selects for their comprehensive coverage of sectors and industry groups. The AlphaProfit model portfolios have significantly outperformed the market averages over time.Ensure Your Mutual Fund Puts Your Interest First.Whether you prefer to index or take an active approach to managing your investments, ensuring that your mutual fund is putting your interests first is good investing practice.Mutual funds charge different types of fees. By looking at some key factors pertaining to fees, you can get a sense of whether the mutual fund puts your interests first or merely seeks to line the mutual fund company’s pockets.Serving the Interests of Long-Term Shareholders.

Some mutual funds impose short-term trading fees to discourage frequent trading of mutual fund shares. Frequent trading disrupts efficient management of the mutual fund and increases operating expenses. A short-term trading fee can therefore actually be beneficial to long-term shareholders if the fee is rightly treated by the mutual fund company.Fidelity Spartan Total Market Index Fund (Nasdaq: FSTMX), for example, follows the practice of returning short-term trading fees collected on shares held less than 90 days to the mutual fund itself rather than passing on the benefit to the mutual fund company. By having this short-term trading fee structure, this no load mutual fund seeks to contain its operating expenses. Such fees are therefore aligned with the interests of long-term shareholders of this mutual fund.Passing on Savings from Scale Economies.

The operating expenses incurred by a mutual fund are a combination of fixed and variable costs. As the asset of a mutual fund increases, the fixed cost gets spread over a larger asset base. Therefore, the expenses incurred to operate the mutual fund as a percentage of the fund’s assets should trend lower.A mutual fund that places the interest of shareholders first must pass on the savings from scale economies to the shareholders. The trend in a mutual fund’s expense ratio therefore serves as a metric of how seriously a fund takes its fiduciary responsibility.Key Points.

If you are searching for the best no load index mutual fund, shopping for one with low fees and expenses makes perfect sense.
If active management of investments appeals to you, fees and expenses are just one of several important factors to consider. The ability and investing style of the portfolio manager are at least just as important as fees.
The types of fees a mutual fund charges and how the fund uses the fees provides clues as to how seriously a mutual fund takes its fiduciary responsibility. Mutual funds that impose fees to contain operating expenses and return fees to the mutual fund help protect the interests of long-term shareholders.
Mutual funds that put the shareholders’ interests first typically pass on savings from scale economies to the shareholders.
Notes: This report is for information purposes only. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or to give individual investment advice. This report does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation, and particular needs of any specific person who may receive this report. The information contained in this report is obtained from various sources believed to be accurate and is provided without warranties of any kind. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC does not represent that this information, including any third party information, is accurate or complete and it should not be relied upon as such. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC is not responsible for any errors or omissions herein. Opinions expressed herein reflect the opinion of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC and are subject to change without notice. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC disclaims any liability for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information in this report. The third-party trademarks or service marks appearing within this report are the property of their respective owners. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. Owners and employees of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC for their own accounts invest in the Fidelity Mutual Funds included in the AlphaProfit Core and Focus model portfolios. AlphaProfit Investments, LLC neither is associated with nor receives any compensation from Fidelity Investments or other mutual fund companies mentioned in this report. Past performance is neither an indication of nor a guarantee for future results. No part of this document may be reproduced in any manner without written permission of AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. Copyright © 2005 AlphaProfit Investments, LLC. All rights reserved.