You've heard of mutual funds and you've heard that they can be smart investments for almost any investor. But what exactly are mutual funds and how do they work?
Mutual funds are the most popular investment types for the everyday investor. Why? Because they are simple investments to understand and they are easy to use -- in many ways, it's "investing for dummies." In fact, if you're not already one of the millions of shareholders of mutual funds, you'll only need to take about two or three minutes out of your day to read this article and you'll be ready to get started investing.
A mutual fund is an investment security that enables investors to pool their money together into one professionally managed investment. Mutual funds can invest in stocks, bonds, cash or a combination of those assets. The underlying security types, called holdings, combine to form one mutual fund, also called a portfolio.
To summarize, the advantages of mutual funds can be described in four words — simplicity, versatility, diversity, and accessibility:
Simplicity: Most investors do not have the knowledge, time or resources to build their own portfolio of stocks and bonds. Stock investors often have extensive knowledge of fundamental analysis or technical analysis. However, buying shares of a mutual fund enables an investor to own a professionally managed, diverse portfolio, although the investor may have little or no knowledge of investing concepts and strategies. Mutual funds are professionally managed, which means the investor does not need knowledge of investing in capital markets to be successful with them.
Diversity: All investors, beginners and pros alike, know that putting all of their eggs into one basket is not wise. This speaks to the wisdom of diversification with mutual funds. To diversify with stocks, an investor may need to buy 20 or more securities to reach sufficient diversification. However, many mutual funds offer complete diversification in just one security that can be easily purchased. Therefore, a mutual fund investor can break the eggs-in-one-basket rule with mutual funds, at least when getting started, and then add more mutual funds later to increase diversity in the mutual funds portfolio. For more on this idea, be sure to read our article on how to get started investing with just one mutual fund.
Versatility: There are so many types of mutual funds that investors can gain access to almost any segment of the market imaginable. For example, sector funds make it possible for investors to buy into focused areas of the market, such as healthcare, technology, financials, and even social media. Beyond sector funds, investors can also access other asset types, such as gold, oil and other natural resources. This versatility can be used for further diversification as an investor's portfolio grows. Professional money managers often use sector funds for this purpose in building client portfolios.
Accessibility: With as little as $100 an investor can get started investing with mutual funds. And the fact that mutual funds hold dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of other securities, an investor can gain access to an entire market of investable securities. For example, an investor buying shares in one of the total stock market index funds, gains exposure to over 3,000 stocks in just one fund. This returns to the simplicity and diversification of mutual funds. Although investing concepts and strategies are rarely taught in schools, the beginning investor can find easy tips about how to buy mutual funds online or in bookstores and get started investing within minutes or just a few hours.
