AFA Accredited Financial Analyst - Financial Planner Certified Chartered Certifications ™
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Contacting a broker that sells the fund's shares; |
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Searching the SEC's EDGAR database and downloading the documents for free; or |
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Contacting the SEC's Office of Public Reference by telephone at (202) 551-8090, by fax at (202) 942-9001 (fax), or by email at publicinfo@sec.gov. Please be aware that we charge $0.24 per page for photocopying. |
Past Performance
A fund's past performance is not as important as you might think. Advertisements, rankings, and ratings often emphasize how well a fund has performed in the past. But studies show that the future is often different. This year's "number one" fund can easily become next year's below average fund.
Be sure to find out how long the fund has been in existence. Newly created or small funds sometimes have excellent short-term performance records. Because these funds may invest in only a small number of stocks, a few successful stocks can have a large impact on their performance. But as these funds grow larger and increase the number of stocks they own, each stock has less impact on performance. This may make it more difficult to sustain initial results.
While past performance does not necessarily predict future returns, it can tell you how volatile (or stable) a fund has been over a period of time. Generally, the more volatile a fund, the higher the investment risk. If you'll need your money to meet a financial goal in the near-term, you probably can't afford the risk of investing in a fund with a volatile history because you will not have enough time to ride out any declines in the stock market.
Looking Beyond a Fund's Name
Don't assume that a fund called the "XYZ Stock Fund" invests only in stocks or that the "Martian High-Yield Fund" invests only in the securities of companies headquartered on the planet Mars. The SEC requires that any mutual fund with a name suggesting that it focuses on a particular type of investment must invest at least 80% of its assets in the type of investment suggested by its name. But funds can still invest up to one-fifth of their holdings in other types of securities — including securities that you might consider too risky or perhaps not aggressive enough.
Bank Products versus Mutual Funds
Many banks now sell mutual funds, some of which carry the bank's name. But mutual funds sold in banks, including money market funds, are not bank deposits. As a result, they are not federally insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
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Money Market Matters Don't confuse a "money market fund" with a "money market deposit account." The names are similar, but they are completely different:
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If You Have Problems
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