One of the best financial instruments to get started as an investor are mutual funds.
An investment company solicits investments from many investors. Those investments can be as small as $25 per month. This is what makes mutual fund so appealing, that it is within the reach of practically anyone who can put together a small amount of money.
The money collected is is used to make investments, generally of stocks, but also bonds and other securities. A professional mutual fund manager is the person in charge of making daily investments decisions.
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Having a large pool of money allows the money manager to diversify into many investments. Small investors generally don’t have the capital to invest in hundreds of different companies. Also, small investors don’t have the time nor expertise to research hundreds of companies.
Different focus of mutual funds
Many mutual funds companies have different focus of interest. For example, some funds may invest in technology companies, other funds may invest in dividend paying stocks, other may invest is small stock. It is up to the investor to decide which of those investments philosophies he/she prefers and then buy the mutual fund which reflects that philosophy.
Advantages of mutual funds
One of the big advantages of mutual funds is the elimination or reduction of single stock risk. Those who once owned Nortel, Enron, or Blackberry are well aware of the single stock risk. Single stock risk exist when an investor can lose a significant amount of money because the single stock they own, has a big decline in price. By having hundreds of stocks, the single stock risk is greatly diminished.
Disadvantages of Mutual funds
However, mutual funds are risky and many of them could do so bad that they could be closed down. It is quite possible to lose 50% or more of your money when investing in mutual funds.
Another big disadvantage of owning mutual funds is their high fees. Canada has one of the highest mutual funds fees in the world. While you, the investor, are putting your money at risk, the mutual fund company could easily eat away more than 50% of your profit.