Mutual Funds
Growing wealth with Mutual Funds is part of our financial education series to explain the fundamentals of investing to help you achieve your financial goals.
What are Mutual Funds?
Mutual funds is a general term for funds that allow you to pool your money with that of other investors and are managed by a team of investment professionals. The term may vary across countries but mutual funds may also be referred to as collective investment schemes, unit trusts or simply as funds. The pooling of your money generally creates greater buying power so you are able to invest in a wider range of investments than possible for most individual investors. Each investor in a fund owns units (or shares) which represent a part of a fund’s portfolio holdings. Mutual funds can be categorized by the type of assets they invest in (such as shares, bonds, cash or other securities). You can refer to the mutual fund’s prospectus and factsheet to get a better understanding of their respective investment objectives and policy (for example, type and mix of investments) and past performance.
Mutual funds are open-ended funds but some investment schemes are structured as closed-ended Open-ended funds – can issue and redeem units at times specified to meet subscription or redemption requests made by investors. Generally, buying and selling of units takes place directly between investors and the fund or its agents. The price per unit of an open-end fund will vary in proportion to the fund’s net asset value, and therefore reflect the fund’s performance.
Types of Mutual funds that are available
There are many types of mutual funds, but broadly speaking they can be divided into four main categories:
Equity Stock Funds:
As the name suggests, Equity Funds consist mainly of stock investments and are the most common type of mutual funds. Equity Funds focus on a particular type of investment strategy such as Growth, Value, Large Caps and Small Caps or themes such as Property, Energy and Healthcare. The underlying shares can be invested globally, regionally or in single countries.
Bond (Fixed Income) Funds:
Bond Funds invest mainly in debt instruments including government bonds, corporate bonds or mortgage-backed securities. The return that a Bond Fund may have can vary depending on the type of bond. Typically, Bond Funds that invest in short-term bonds tend to be less volatile than longer term bonds. Bond Funds that invest in corporate bonds generally do so to obtain higher yields, thus carrying greater risk than government bonds.
Money Market Funds:
Money Market Funds seek to maintain a stable net asset value by investing in the short-term, high-grade securities sold in the money market. These are generally the safest, most stable securities available, including Treasury bills, certificates of deposit and commercial paper.
Hybrid (Multi Asset) Funds:
Hybrid Funds invest in a mix of stocks and bonds and may also hold money market instruments which can vary proportionally over time or remain fixed.
Benefits of investing in mutual funds
Diversification
A mutual fund can give you instant diversification. With as little as US$1,000 you can buy a fund which invests in equity and bond markets around the world. The investment risk is spread over many securities, thus potentially reducing the volatility of your portfolio.
Active, Professional Management
You can enjoy professional management when you invest in a mutual fund. The investment professionals will manage the funds on your behalf using their experience, skills and resources.
Liquidity
Generally, for mutual funds that are priced daily and open-ended, you can redeem your units any day and get your money back promptly at the prevailing price (net asset value) of the fund. It is best to refer to the fund’s prospectus or factsheets to better understand the price at which the fund will redeem your units. Conveniently and easily cash out your investment at any time at market value within 10 International business working days
Affordability
Start investing from as low as USD 100 through the Monthly Plan or an initial lumpsum of USD 1000