Mutual Fund Center This section will provide you with mutual fund information pertaining
to education, portfolio diversification, investment tips, research covering load and no-load mutual fund performance,
MorningStar ratings, category rankings, descriptions, holdings, prospectuses, fund composition, weightings, fees,
expenses, toll-free phone numbers and much more.
MUTUAL FUND INVESTMENT TIPS
Prior to investing in any mutual fund, you need to ask yourself a couple questions:
What is my time horizon?
Your time horizon is the amount of time you have to invest before you will need your invested funds. Will
the designated funds be used for retirement, children's education, to purchase a home or something else that creates
a limited time frame?
What is my risk tolerance?
Your risk tolerance is the amount of risk you're comfortable taking in order to achieve a desired return.
Higher returning investments are likely to have higher degrees of risk and greater volatility.
Once you have determined both your time objective and risk tolerance, establish a diversified portfolio that
satisfies these perimeters. To establish a diversified portfolio, click
here.
The next step would be to research thousands of mutual funds to determine which ones satisfy the requirements
of your portfolio. To simplify this tedious task, you can request the service of Scott
Ulves,
Account Representative & Investment Specialist, @ 877-673-6472 (toll free). Scott has many resources
available to assist you in the analysis process. One of the resources available is Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar provides research on approximately 11,000 funds. To familiarize yourself with terms used by Morningstar
to analyze mutual funds, click here.
Mutual funds are either load or no-load funds. True no load funds do not charge a commission for purchases
or sales. Loaded funds do charge a commission. Most funds, but not all, will offer a choice between
A, B, or C class shares. For more information on the differences between theclasses of
shares, click here. Always read the prospectus carefully
before you purchase any mutual fund. The prospectus will contain all the information regarding costs and
fees as well as other vital information. You can obtain a mutual fund prospectus by contacting
the mutual fund directly or Scott
Ulves
@ 1-877-673-6472 (toll free).
When comparing mutual funds based on return, make sure the returns are net figures. For example, if you compared
a no-load with a loaded fund, ensure the returns of the loaded fund are net of all fees, expenses, and commissions.
