Mutual Funds

An Introduction to Mutual Funds

Over the past decade, American investors increasingly have turned to mutual funds to save for retirement and other financial goals. Mutual funds can offer the advantages of diversification and professional management. But, as with other investment choices, investing in mutual funds involves risk. And fees and taxes will diminish a fund’s returns. It pays to understand both the upsides and the downsides of mutual fund investing and how to choose products that match your goals and tolerance for risk.

What They Are

A mutual fund is a company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in stocks, bonds, short-term money-market instruments, other securities or assets, or some combination of these investments. The combined holdings the mutual fund owns are known as its portfolio. Each share represents an investor’s proportionate ownership of the fund’s holdings and the income those holdings generate.

Here are some hi-lights

Professional Management — Professional money managers research, select, and monitor the performance of the securities the fund purchases.

Diversification — Diversification is an investing strategy that can be neatly summed up as “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Spreading your investments across a wide range of companies and industry sectors can help lower your risk if a company or sector fails. Some investors find it easier to achieve diversification through ownership of mutual funds rather than through ownership of individual stocks or bonds.  Diversification does not assure against market loss.

Affordability — Some mutual funds accommodate investors who don’t have a lot of money to invest by setting relatively low dollar amounts for initial purchases, subsequent monthly purchases, or both.

Liquidity — Mutual fund investors can readily redeem their shares at the current NAV — plus any fees and charges assessed on redemption — at any time.

Gary Hutto, through GWN Securities, has selling agreements with the following fund families and more:

AIM / Invesco 800.959.4246
Alger 800.992.3863
Alliance 800.221.5672
American Funds 800.421.9900
American Skandia Funds 888.386.3484
Calvert 800.368.2746
CDC Nvest Funds 800.225.5478
Davis Funds 800.440.0334
Delaware Group 800.362.7500
Dreyfus Premier Funds 800.242.8671
Eaton Vance 800.386.3567
Evergreen Funds 800.225.2618
Federated Investors 800.528.3858
Fidelity Advisor Funds 800.544.9999
First Eagle Sogen Funds 800.747.2008
Franklin/Templeton 800.524.4040
Hartford Mutual Funds 800.777.7938
IDEX Group 800.443.9975
ING Funds 800.238.6263
John Hancock Funds 800.257.3336
Lord Abbett 888.522.2388
Mainstay 800.535.5162
MFS Funds 800.343.2829
North Track Funds 800.826.4600
Nuveen 800.752.8700
One Group of Funds 800.343.1113
Oppenheimer 800.525.7040
Phoenix – Zweig Funds 800.243.1574
PIMCO Funds 800.835.3401
Pioneer Investments 800.225.6292
Principal Mutual Funds 800.451.5447
Putnam Funds 800.354.2228
SAFECO Securities 800.624.5711
Scudder Funds 800.621.6616
Security Funds 800.222.3003
Seligman Funds 800.221.2783
Sentinel Funds 800.282.3863
SM&R Equity Funds 800.526.8346
Strong Funds 800.368.1683
Van Kampen Investments 800.826.5267
WM Group of Funds 800.787.1621

 

 

The prospectus does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitaion of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sales of these securities until the firm and representative are registered according to the securities laws of any such state.