If you're not quite sure that investing in individual stocks is right for you, then mutual funds is a simple way to get your feet wet in the equities market. There are many advantages to starting off with mutual funds. For example, they offer the investor the ability to create an instant portfolio, with a minimum of financial commitment and expense.
Unfortunately, not all mutual funds are created equally. So even if you've decided on this simplified approach, you still need to familiarize yourself with the terminology you're likely to encounter when researching a fund.
Mutual Fund Investing Basics
If you're looking for some solid information on the basics of mutual fund investing, this is the place to start. There are bond funds and commodity funds, index funds and real estate trusts from which to choose.
You'll also want to understand some of the basic fee terminology that is unique to this industry, whether it's a closed end fund or a no-load mutual fund, we have that topic covered:
Evaluating Mutual Funds
Now that you've figured out what kind of mutual funds you're interested in, it's time to learn how to evaluate the performance of these funds. Morningstar is one of the premier rating agencies for mutual funds, but you'll always see that little disclaimer: "Past performance is no guarantee of future performance."
Here is where we explain why there is a lot of truth to that statement:
Mutual Fund Reviews
To date, we've reviewed over a dozen of the largest brokerage and financial services institutions offering mutual funds. We're talking about industry giants such as Fidelity and Vanguard. But just because you've heard the name before, doesn't mean you're guaranteed to pick a winner.
Our mutual fund reviews give you a quick feel for relative size and strength of each company's offerings. We'll also provide you with a list of the top performing funds within each family, as well as the associated fees and performance over the last five years:
Commodity and Real Estate Mutual Funds
Gold and real estate are another one of those investments that the experts will tell you is a "must have" in your portfolio. There are many different ways to invest in gold, and mutual funds are just one of those choices:
Special Topics in Mutual Funds
Finally, we offer the investor the following specialty topics in mutual funds. Here you'll find information on index funds, and learn about exchange traded funds. We'll also provide you with a brief introduction into a special type of mutual fund: hedge funds:
