A mutual fund is a pool of money managed by a professional that invests in stocks, bonds, and other securities. It allows small investors to participate in a diversified portfolio. Benefits include professional management, diversification, liquidity, and flexibility. Fees include front-end loads, back-end loads, and management expense ratios. Major asset classes are money market, bond, balanced, dividend, equity, and specialty funds. Equity funds focus on Canadian, US, or international stocks using value, growth, or momentum investment styles.

1. What is a
Mutual Fund?

2. What is a Mutual Fund?
• A mutual fund is a pool of money managed by a professional
money manager.
• The objective and the risk level are outlined in a document
called a prospectus. The prospectus provides detailed
guidelines for the types of investments the manager can
purchase.
• A mutual fund is also known as an open-ended investment fund,
which means the fund sells units (of this pool on money) upon
request.

3. What are the benefits of
purchasing a mutual fund?
1 Professional Management: The fund company hires talented
money managers who have many resources behind them
(including a team of people dedicated to researching, tracking,
determining trends, and doing thorough analysis), and who work
full time on your behalf.
2 Diversification: Lowers the risk because, regardless of the size
of your investment, each unit purchased is made up of many
different investments.
3 Liquidity: Mutual funds can be sold anytime, and easily
4 Flexibility: Mutual funds allow you to purchase as much or as
little as you want, and offer a variety of purchase plans.

4. What are the fees?
Mutual funds can either be purchased through a:
1 Front-end load: An investor pays a fee upfront (usually, a
percentage of the total investment).
2 Back-end load: An investor doesn't pay an initial fee, but they
are locked into the fund family for a predetermined period of
time (outlined in the prospectus). If the investor holds the fund to
"maturity"of the "contract," they will never pay a fee. But, if they
choose to redeem early, they will have to pay a redemption fee,
which decreases on a percentage basis every year the fund is
held.
3 No-load: An investor pays no fee upfront, or in the future.
* All mutual funds are subject to management expense ratios (MER).
This is a fee charged by the fund company to cover the expenses
for the management of the fund. It is accrued daily based on a
percentage of the total value.

5. What types of funds can I buy?
Major Asset Classes:
1 Money Market Funds
2 Bond Funds
3 Balanced Funds
4 Dividend
5 Equity Funds
6 Specialty Funds

6. What is a Money Market Fund?
• This type of fund's main objective is to hold investment
instruments that are liquid and secure. This type of fund is
usually held on a short-term basis, and the NAV is often fixed at
$10. Examples: Treasury bills, banker's acceptances, and short
term notes.
• One thing an investor should be aware of is that these funds are
NOT guaranteed like a GIC, and hold NO fixed return, but are
low risk and do pay interest.

7. What is a Bond Fund?
• This type of fund's main objective is to provide a steady stream
of income, and holds bonds issued by either governments or
corporations.
• The risk level of this type of fund will be determined by the
guidelines in the prospectus, which will, in turn, determine what
type of "rating" and term (years to maturity) of bond the
manager is allowed to purchase.
For example, a provincial bond will be rated "more risky" than a
government of Canada bond because rating systems determine
that it will be easier for the government of Canada to repay their
debt easier than for any provincial government.

8. What is a Balanced Fund?
• This type of fund's main objective is to hold an optimal mix of
investments among cash, equities, and income-producing
securities.
• This type of fund usually has several managers who specialize
in a specific area.
• This type of investment is ideal for someone who wants a better
return than a fixed income, but also wants less risk than equity.

9. What is a Dividend Fund?
• This type of fund's main objective is to mainly hold preferred
shares, which pay out dividends. The manager may choose,
however, to invest in common shares, money market funds or
bonds.
* Dividends receive favourable tax treatment, so it is best to hold this
type of fund outside a registered account.

10. What is an Equity Fund?
• This type of fund's main objective is to provide long-term growth
through equity/stock investments.
• There are three types of equity funds:
1 Canadian Equity Funds, which invest, predominantly, in
Canadian corporations.
2 U.S. Equity Funds, which invest, predominantly, in U.S.
corporations
3 International Equity Funds, which invest in many countries
around the world.

11. What is a Specialty Fund?
• This type of fund's main objective is to concentrate its holdings
in one particular sector, geographic region, or in one capital
market.
• Examples: telecommunications, health care, technology,
financial services, European markets or Japan.
* As you specialize, you minimize diversification, and that results in
increased risk.

12. What are the three
different investment styles
for equity investing?
• Fund managers have different styles of investing. Their style
affects the type of stocks they will purchase, and the price they
are willing to pay. This, in turn, affects your future returns.
1 Value: A manager purchases stocks that offer value at a time
when the price of the stock is low, relative to the actual book
value. In other words, the company is selling for less than it is
worth.
* Note: This is the most conservative approach.

13. What are the three
different investment styles
for equity investing?
2 Growth: A manager purchases stocks that are deemed to have
growth potential, which, in turn, could generate above average
returns in the future.
* Note: Growth investments are usually small- to medium-sized
companies, thereby increasing the risk exposure.

14. What are the three
different investment styles
for equity investing?
3 Momentum/Sector rotation: A manager purchases sectors that
are, or that they think will soon be, "hot." The choices are
determined by the manager's anticipation of where the greatest
potential rests.
* Note: This is a high-risk way of investing.
Other investments with structures similar to a mutual fund
include clone funds, and segregated funds.