Is My Investment Covered by the PDIC?

No. A mutual fund is not a deposit product and is, therefore, not covered by the PDIC, However, when you invest in a mutual fund, you are considered a shareholder and in effect are entitled to your proportional share in the total assets of the fund. THe PDIC, on the other hand only insures up to P2500,000 fo your total deposits with a bank and not your entire investment amount.

What Happens to my Investment if Something Happens to me?

Your shares in the mutual fund will form a part of your estate and will be distributed to your heirs (usually surviving spouse and childred) accordingly. Rest assured, your investment will not disappear, or be "taken back". To ease the transfer of the fund shares you may want to consider opening a joint account or trust account.

How to Make Your Investment

• A Mutual Fund Investment is considered to be one of the best long run investments that one can make.
• It is a great mechanism to save and to let your money work for you.
• It is a means to have your hard-earned savings, managed by professional investment managers.
• It is a way for you to make investments in sophisticated equity or fixed income securities huge investments to quality.

There are two ways by which you can make an investment in a mutual fund:
1. You can make a single investment in any mutual fund of your choice, or
2. You may either participate in a "Monthly Investment Program", and have your salary deduction invested in a m utual fund of your choice.

Here are simply procedures in making a single investment in mutual funds:
1. Make sure you get and read a copy of the prospectus of the mutual fund that you have chosen.
2. Fill out an Investment application form.
3. If you are investing on behalf of a corporation/company, please submit a copy of the following:
- Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws
- SEC certificate of registration
- Secretary's certificate / Board resolution authorizing the investment
- Secretary's certificate on the percentage of ownership / capital stock held by non-Filipino shareholders.

You may make your investment either in Cash or Cheque payable to the fund of you choice.

Thanks to Metro Asset Management.

This article intends only to educate and enlighten readers about investments.

How do we Invest in Mutual Fund?

You can join by buying shares of the mutual fund. The price of these shares, also known as the Net Asset Value per share, changes daily depending on the performance of the underlying investment portfolio. As the Net Asset Value increases, the value of your investment also increases. The mechanics of investing in a mutual fund are very similar to buying shares in the stock market.

Standard Procedure on Investing in Mutual Fund will be posted in the Next Article.

What is Diversification? Why is it important?

Diversification simply means "not putting all your eggs in one basket". This is especially important in investing. In a well-diversified portfolio, losses from some investments can be off-set by gains in other investments. This reduces the overall fluctuations or volatility of the value of the portfolio. By putting money in a mutual fund, you gain instant access to a diversified portfolio of investments. It is, however, also important to realize that not all risk can be diversified away. There are certain economic, market and political factors which may affect all investments adversely.

Is my Principal Secure or Can I Lose Money in Mutual Fund? any Risk?

As all other investments ways, investing in a mutual funds includes an average amount of risk. Stock and bond prices go up and down every day. So as the value of the underlying instruments which pool of funds was invested is adjusting, so does the valueof your mutual fund money invested. Depending on the market conditions, there may be periods in which you may lose money. However, until you actually liquidate or withdraw you money invested from the mutual fund, these will simply remain, "paper losses" which can be recovered when market conditions stabilize.

In addition, the fund managers of the fund also do many things to control and minimize the risk. First, they analyze all investments thoroughly before including any stock or bond in the portfolio. Second, they ensure that the fund is properly diversified, i.e. invested in many different stocks or bonds. As such, a drop in the price of one investment may be off-set by gains in another. Third, the fund managers are subject to regular and internal investment restrictions that prevent the fund from being invested from certain speculative investments and encourage proper diversification.

While there are risk in mutual fund investing, the returns can also be reqarding in the long-run. There is always a risk return on trading in any investment. What is important is to know how much risk you are willing and able to take and select an investment whose risk provide matches yours.

How Much I Earn If I Invest in Mutual Fund?

Mutual Funds are not time deposits and therefore do not pay out a fixed rate of return. Mutual funds invest in stocks listed on the stock exchange as well as bonds issued by the governement and corporations. As a result, the value of your investment fluctutates daily depending on the performance of the underlying investments. Because of this, your return cannot be guaranteed. Your actual rate of return depends on many factors such as the performance of the underlying investments as well as general market and economic conditions. However, over the long-term, investments in mutual funds outperform traditional time deposits placements.

What Are the Benefits of Investing in a Mutual Fund?

For an affordable initial investment amount, you gain access to various potentially higher yielding investments normally available to investors with much larger funds to invest. A mutual fund makes this possible because it pools together the funds of hundreds or even thousands of small investors. The pool of funds is therefore large enough to access these potentially higher yielding investments.

Mutual fund investors also benefit from the investment management expertise and market knowledge of the team of professional fund managers that manages the pool of funds. These fund managers ensure, that the funds are optimally invested and diversified at all times. Therefore, you do not need to watch the markets yourself since there is a team that is already doing if for you.

Mutual Fund Currency Risk and Management Risk

Currency Risk also known as foreign exhange risk is the risk that fulctuations in the exchange rates may negatively effect the value of the funds investment. This applies to mutual funds that are denominated in one currency but invest in instruments denominated in another.

Management Risk is the type of risk associated with all actively managed forms of investments. Investment decisions are made by portfolio managers who can and do make mistakes from time to time by selecting wrong issues or misallocating the assets of the fund. These errors in judgement can result in a fund's underperformance, decline in value of even losses.

Mutual Fund Credit and Purchasing Power Risk

The credit worthiness of the bond issuer and its expected ability to pay interest and to repay its debt. A mutual fund can manage this risk by investing only in investment grade bonds.

Purchasing power risk is rate of return on an investmetn will not be greater than the rate of inflation thus diminishing the value of your money, i.e. , the value of your money in real terms will be less than the purchasing power of your original investment.

Liquidity and Interest Rate Risk

Liquidity Risk is the risk that an investment may not find a ready buyer and, as such, may have to be disposed at a substantial loss. To reduce this risk, mutual funds try to stay away from securities which do not have a ready buyer, are not listed, are listed but are not actively traded and are very volatile.

Interest Rate Risk is volatility of bond prices that results from changes in interest rates. Bond prices are inversely related to interest rates. When interest rates rise, bond prices fall and vice versa. Interest rates are affected by various factors such as the expected direction of inflation, monetary policy, political risk and other economic factors.

Market Risk - Mutual Fund Risk

Depending on the kinds of securities it is allowed to invest in, a mutual fund is subject to one or more of the following types of risk.

Market Risk
The risk that the valueof an investment will be adversely affected by the fluctuations in its market prices. These fluctuations may be the result of two other kinds of risk.

1. Unsystematic Risk - the variability in the stocks price due to factors associated with the company. This type of risk can be minimized through proper diversification.

2. Systematic Risk - the variability in price related to factors that affect the economy and the financial markets as a whole.

Sector Risk

The risk which affects stocks in a particular industry or sector sector. Market or economic factors affecting that industry sector, could have an effect on the value of a funds investments.

Liquidity and Safety on Mutual Fund

Liquidity means that you may have shares in a mutual fund redeemed at any time and just need to wait a maximum of 7 banking days to gain access to your funds.

Safety of mutual fund are governed by the Investment Company Act whose implementing rules and regulations specify particular limits and constraints in the investment activities of all mutual funds. The securities and exchange commission (SEC) sees to it that all mutual funds comply with these statutory regulations. Moreover, mutual fund companies are regularly audited by an independent auditor. The assets of the mutual fund are held by a third-party custodian bank.

Mutual Fund Diversification

Simply put, diversification means not putting all your eggs in one basket. This is especially important in investing. Through porper diversification, losses in one investment can be off-set by gains in another. In the process, overall risk is minimized. Investing in a mutual fund provides you with immediate access to a diversified portfolio of funds. By virtue of the size of the pool of funds, the mutual fund is able to purchase many different investment securities and diversify.

Mutual Fund Potential Higher Returns

By Pooling together the funds of thousands of investors, a mutual fund is able to access potentially higher yielding investments that required large minimum investment amounts. This, investors are able to access potentially higher yields that may not normally be available to them due to the size of their individual funds. Moreover, the fund manager ensures that the mutual fund generates the best possible returns for the given level of risk of the mutual fund.

Mutual Fund Professional Management

A mutual fund is managed by an experienced, full-time fund manager whi is focused solely on analyzing the financial markets and seizing market opportunities as they present themselves. By investing in a mutual fund, you benefit from the fund manager's experience and market insight.

Source: Philequity

Strength in Numbers, Mutual Fund Investing Benefits

The power of a mutual fund lies in its ability to pool together funds from so many different investros. Imagine a thousand investors each with P5,000 to invest who decide to pool their funds together. That is already a pool of P5 million! Now imagin that instead of just investing P5,000 each, someinvestors put in P10,000, P1 Hundred Thousand or even 1 Million Pesos. The size of the collective pool would even be bigger. And when it comes to investing, there is strength in numbers. 5 Million Pesos can gain better access to more diversified investment instruments than P5,000.

A mutual fund is a vehicle that allows investors to combine their resources. Because of this, you do not need a large amount of money to gain access to a well-diversified portfolio of top-performing investments. A mutual fund makes this possible. Here are some of the key benefits of investing mutual funds.

1. Professional Management
2. Potential Higher Returns
3. Diversification
4. Liquidity
5. Safety

Details will be on the next coming articles...
Our Source: Philequity

Determine Your Risk Tolerance

Your Return Objectives. The higher the return you require in order to achieve your financial goals, the greater the amount of risk you will need to take.

Your Age. The younger you are, the greater the amount of risk you can take. Why? Simply because you have more time to recover from any losses that you incur and because you have more income-earning years ahead of you.

Your Total Assets. The larger your total assets, the greater the amount of risk you can take. This is because you have more to draw from for your regular expenses should you  incur losses in some of your other investments.

Your Investment Time Horizon or the Length of Time you are Willing to keep your Money Invested. The longer your time horizon, the greater the risk you can take. The reasoning behind this is similar to the reason behind age: the longer the time horizon, the more time to recover from any losses.

Your Past Investment Experience. the partly determines your attitude to risk. A bad experience from a past investment may make you more gun-shy and risk averse. Or, investment carries and could have made you more willing to take on risk.

Your General attitude to risk. Other factors such as your presonality or the people around you may influence your appetite for risk.

The first five factors determine your ability to take on investment risk. These are the more objective determinants of risk tolerance. The last two determine your attitude towards risk and are obviously a bit more subjective. It's more important to understand the distinction between a person's ability to take on risk andhis attitude towards it. Sometimes, there are people who objectively can take on much more investment risk than they are currently taking but simply refuse to do so because they are jsut not comfortable with the idea of losing money. On the other hande, there are people who are willing to take on more risk even if they literally cannot afford to do so. Neigher is ideal investor behavior. It's always good to achieve a balance.

Understanding your risk tolerance then helps you determine which investments are suitable for you.

Understanding Investment Risk

There is no such thing as free lunch. Nowhere is this truer than in the world of investments. When it comes to investing, gaining access to higher returns comes at a price. And that price is called risk. In investments, risk is commonly defined as the possibility and magnitude of incurring a loss. But actually, risk can be more broadly defined as the possibility of obtaining something other than what you expected. So, risk can actually work in your favor. In terms of investments, you could end up with a return that is higher than what you initially expected because of the riskiness of investment. In fact, in investments, the following relationship holds true: the higher the return, the higher the risk.

All this talk of risk may sound frieghtening. Does it mean that you should avoid risk? Especially when it comes to your hard-earned savings? The answer to that question is resounding..."it depends". The amount of risk that you are willing to take and are capable of taing is called your risk tolerance. Your risk tolerance is a function of several factors that are unique to you and is thus different from the risk tolerance of another person.

Source Philequity Management

Monitor the Performance of Your Investments

Finally, it is important to regularly monitor how your chosen investments are performing. Are they making money? Are they bringing your closer to your investment goals? Are your still comfortable with the risk you are taking? Has your financial situation changed significantly enough to warrant a change in strategy? There are some of the important questions you will need to answer to evaluate your investment strategy.

Benchmark. The final checkpoint for evaluating your mutual fund is to compare it to other similar entities. Every single asset class  has its corresponding index, which you can use to see how the overall asset class is performing, and then see how your individual mutual fund is holding up against that benchmark. Ofthen when you pull up your mutual funds infoation, a benchmark is already provided for comparison. The question they are answering with the below chart is, if you invested 10,000, how has the benchmark and your mutual fund performed over th same timeframe?

Mutual Fund Quick Facts

It pools the money of people, with the same investment objectives, through the issuance of shares.

The resulting size of the fund allows it to invest in a basket of securities.

It managed by a full-time professionals.

Investors in a mutual fund are considered part owners or shareholders of the fund.

Shareholders are entitled to a proportionate share in investment income and risk explosure.

Each represents a proportionate ownership in all the funds underlying securities.

Earnings in a mutual fund are based on Net Asset Value Per Share (NAVPS).

A mutual fund is an investment vehicle that pools together the funds of various investros both individuals and corporation. The ppol of funds is managed by a professional fund manager who uses the funds to create a diversified investment portfolio consisting of various investment instruments such as stock and bonds.

Choose Your Own Investments

Once you know what your investment objectives are and your appetite risk is, the next logical step is to determine where to invest your money. You have three options at this point:

1. You Could Select your Investment Instruments
This, of course, would required time and knowledge on your part on where to invest. This entails access to information about investing and investments as well as ability on your part to implement your investment strategies. Some people love th thrill of managing their own funds. But most would not have th time and expertise to do this.

2. You Could Hire a Personal Portfolio Manager
Most banks offer personal investment managers who will tailor-fit an investment protfolio to suit your particular objectives. However, for this type of customized service, a high initial investment amount is normally required.

3. You Could Participate in a Pooled Fund
For retail investors, participating in a pooled investment fund such as a mutual or unit investment trust fund could be the best option. Pooled investment funds normally require a low initial investment and provide you with instant access to a diversified portfolio of investment instruments. Since you buy shares or units in the pooled fund at a particular price which changes daily depending on the performance of the investments, it is also very easy to determine just how much money you are earning and how well the investment is performing.

Understand Your Appetite for Risk

When it comes to money matter, common people have natural dislike on risk. After all, most people defin risk as the probability of incurring loss. The greater the risk, the greater the potential loss.

But that is just in one common side. While risk can sometimes work against you, it can also work in your favor. In investing, the greater the risk, the greater the potential for gain.

Risk is present in any financial product, whether it be a simple time deposit or a complex financial derivative. It is only the degree of riskiness that differs. Whenever you invest, absorbing a certain amount of risk is unavoidable and , in some cases, even necessary especially if you want to achieve your financial goals. What's important is that you understand the risk that you are takinga dn are both comfortable and capable of taking it.

To get the percentage of your risk appetite you can take Suitability Test from an investment company.

Know Your Investment Objectives

The process of investing begins with articulating your financial goals. As with most things in life, knowing your objectives is essential since this will help you determine what you need to do. So ask yourself these questions: what are you investing for? Why are you investing? Be as concrete as possible. Quantify your goals: how much do i need to by that dream house? Do I need regular cash inflows to sustain my living expenses? If so, how much? And, finally, situate your objectives in time: when will i need the money?

Getting Started on Investing

Have you ever dreamt of owning your own house? Have you ever, wished you were driving a new car? Have you ever worried about financing your kids education? If you have, then congratulations! You have just taken your first step towards understanding what investing is all about.

Although the work "investing" may sound intimidating to some, it actually referes to a process that is very personal and relevant to our lives. In order to achieve goals such as those mentioned above, we need to figure out how we are going to finance them. That usually entails setting aside some of your funds. But we can't just leave all our money in a savings account if we want to have enough in the future to pay our financial expenses and goals. We want our savings to grow and that entails investing.

Tax Free

Income Generated by mutual fund shareholders are exempted from capital gains tax as stipulated in the comprehensive tax reform program.

Government and Government-owned and controlled corporation also offer shareholding to the public in the form of bonds or securities. Government securities are unconditional obligations of the State, and backed by its full taxing power, making them practically free from default.

Treasury bills are directed and unconditional obligations of the national government. they are issued by the BTr. They carry maturity of one year or less and can be traded in teh secondary market before maturity. Various tenors of T-bills exist. Banks that compromise majority of the Government Security Eligible Dealers bid for T-bills in the weekly auctions held by the BTr. Tha banks then resell the T-bills to investors.

Mutual Fund Voting Rights and Potential Higher Returns

Mutual fund shareholders are part owners of the fund and are therefore entitled to vote during the funds annual shareholder's meeting.

Because mutual fund is manged as a single protfolio, it is able to take advantage of certain economies of scale. For instances, with its millions or billions under managemetn, it can negotiate for lower stockbrokerage fees or command higher interest rates on fixed-income investments.

Mutual Fund Daily Pricing

Mutual Fund must calculate the price of their shares every business day. investors can sell (redeem) som or all their shares anytime and receive the current share price, which may be more or less then the original price.

A mutual fund investment involves risk. The value of the fund may go up and down. Returns from the investment are not guaranteed in daily fix rate. Any gains or losses from the investment are solely for the account of the investor. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to the future performance. A mutual find is not a deposit product and is not insured with any government insurance.

Safety of Mutual Fund

Mutual funds are highly regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the investment company act and its implementing rules and guidelines. They are prohibited from investing in certain investment products and from engaging in certain transactions. They also have to submit regular reports to teh SEC and the shareholder as well.

Liquidity - Mutual Fund Advantages

Liquidity is the ability to readily convert investments into cash. Other investment products require investor to find a  buyer so that he can liquidate his investment. That is not the case with mutual fund shares because the fund itself stands ready to buy back these shares at the prevailing Net Asset Value Per Share. While the law provides that the redemption proceeds must be given with seven (7) banking days from teh date of the redemption request, most funds are able to pay the redeption proceeds with 2 to 3 days. Mutual funds are, therefore, considered very liquid investments.

Diversification - Mutual Fund Advantages

Diversification

Fund Managers typically invest in a variety of securities, seeking portfolio diversification.

A diversified portfolio helps reduce risk by offsetting losses from some securities with gains in others. The average investor would find it expensive and difficult to construct a portfolio as diversed as that of a mutual fund. Mutual funds provide an economical way for average investors to obtain the same kind of professional money management and diversification of investments that is available to large institutions and wealthy investors.

Professional Management

The money accumulated in a mutual fund is managed by professionals who decided on behalf of the investment strategy. These professionals choose investments that best match the funds objectives as described in the prospectus. Their investment decisions are based on extensive knowledge and research of market conditions and the financial performance of individual companies and specific securities.

Benefits of Mutual Fund Investor

Professional Management - One of the main attractions of mutual funds is that it affords its investors, particularly the small ones, the servicfes of full time investment managers whose jobs is to analyze and select investment products which would give the best possible returns to teh fund and shareholders.

Low Capital Requirement - A key advantage of mutual funds is they offer investors access to professional money management for a relatively low minimum investment.

Diversification - Mutual funds are invested in a wide array of securities that can lower overall risk without necessarily reducing returns.

Liquidity - Mutual fund shares can be redeemed at anytime based on the prevailing Net Asset value Per Share.

Safety - Mutual funds are registered with and highly regulated by the SEC. It functions within strict regulations design to protect the interest of the investors.

Potentially Higher Returns - Because a mutual fund is managed as a single portfolio, it is able to take advantage of cetain economics of scale and has access to investments with higher returns.

FAQ: How Safe is my Investment with Asset Mutual Funds?

The concept of safety in mutual funds may come in different forms. One is the structure. PAMI is titally segregated from the mutual funds that they manage. The invested instruments of these funds are kept with custodian bank. Records of shareholders are kept with the transfer agent and an external auditor monitors the company's operations. Moreover, all mutual funds are closely monitored by the SEC under the provisions of the RA 2629. More importantly, all mutual funds do not deviate from the company's stipulated investment restrictions and guidelines.

Expenses and Fees

If your are considering the purchase of mutual fund, be sure you thoroughly understand its sales charges, fee and expense structure. Ask your representative or the mutual fund company for an explanation of:

• Sales Charge
• Other fund fees / expenses
• Transfer Fees
• Redemption Fees
• Visit your local library for magazines of books on mutual funds, securities and personal finance.
• Many mutual fund companies offer toll-free consumer inquiry lines. If you are considering purchasing a fund from particular company, ask for product literature or visit its website.

Todays tips from: International Marketing Group

Buying Tips

Match Fund Objectives to your Needs

• Understand your risk profile and investment goals
• Understand the funds investment choices/objectives (i.e. industry specific, socially responsible, etc.) and limitations (i.e., mutual funds may not be best choice for investors close to retirement age, etc.)
• Market volatility may be greater with Non-US investing funds.

Investment professionals are compensated for the services and support they provide investors, generally through a sales commission, or through 12b-1 and/ or services fees deducted from the fund's assets.

Diret-marketed funds typically offer fund shares with a low sales charge or non at all. Funds that do not charge a front end or deferred sales charge are called "no-Load" funds. Other fees aor expenses may apply.

Frequently Asked Questions - Mutual Fund

Where Can I Find Information About How These Products work, As Well as Benefits and Risks?
The best source of information is the funds prospectus. This document contains detailed information about the fund, its features, its performance and more. You should receive and read the prospectus thoroughly before making any financial commitment to the fund.

Can I make changes if My Situation Changes? How?
Yes, the propectus spells out what requirements apply to fund activities and any fees related to the administration and record keeping of thos events. If you purchased the fund through a registered representative, he or she can also explain these details. inforamtion is also available from the mutual fund company, usually via a Web site or shareholder information line.

Should I Redeem my Fund Balance if the Market Goes Down?
Mutual funds are typically part of a longer-term financial strategy, and are not normally intended to be utilized as short term (12 Months or less) trading vehicles. Because of the potential of fluctuations in value of the underlying securities in fund, the fund itself may experience a change in overall value as well. As such, the sale of fund shares that have delined in value should only be considered if such a transaction is conistent with your total financial plans and goals. An important consideration is "time in the market, NOT timing of tht market."

How is a Mutual Fund's Price Determined?
The process of pricing a fund usually begins at the end of each business day when the New York Stock Exchange closes.

• Remember, past preformance is no guarantee of future results.
• To determine a mutual funds share price, follow this formula:

Fund share price or Net Asset Value (NAV) = Market value in dollars of a funds securities muns its liabilities, divided by the number of investor shares outstanding.

Orders received during a business day will be executed at the NAV determined at the close of business that day. This process is referred to as forward pricing.

Articles from: International Marketing Group

Benefits of Mutual Funds

Professional Money Management

• Develop investment strategy and chooses investments that best match the fund objective.
• Decision based on extensive knowledge and research of market conditions and financial performances.
• Adjust investment mix as economic conditions change.
• Diversifies portfolio to reduce risk.

Accessibility

• Easy to buy either through an investment professional or directly from an investment firm.
• Generally offered as investment selection in 401(k) plans and other employee benefit plans.
• Offer wide variety of services to meet shareholder's needs.
• Variety of investment minimums allowing participation at virtually any dollar amount.

Tax Advantages and Economic Opportunity

• Allow investors to contribute to and benefit from investment economy.
• Potentially tax deductable or tax deferred if used within certain qualified retirement plans.
• Potentially reduces taxes by reducing tacable income.

Investment Concepts

Inflation
Inflation is an increase in the volume of money and credite relative to available good and services, resulting in continuing rise in the gerenal price level. Over time, inflation reduces the value and purchasing power of money.

Risk Versus Reward
Generally, the greater the amount of risk assumed by an investor is, the greater the potential reqards are. Before you make any investment decisions, you should know your risk tolerance. Factors such as age, income and years unit retirement, should be considered before making any investment decision.

Market Fluctuations
Upswings or downturns in market activity impact the value of investment instruments or accounts. As a result, investments may be worth more or less than their original cost when ultimately redeemed.

Asset Allocation
Asset allocation is the process of developing a diversified portfolio by mixing different asset classes - such as stocks, bonds and cash equivalents - in varying proportions to help reduce risk and maximize potential returns.

Diversification
An investment portfolio that contains a number of different types of investments tends to have a lower level of risk than a portfolio with more similar types of investments. There is no assurance that a diversified portfolio will achieve a greater return than a non-diversified portfolio.

Dollar-Cost Averaging
Dollar cost averaging advocates the investment of a constant dollar amount, regardless of the price of the investment. Over a period of time, thsi generally results in a lower purchase price per investment than if the total purchase was made a t on time.

Compounding
Compounding takes plase when the returns (such as interest, dividends and capital gains) on investments start earning returns of their own.

This concept is provided by International Marketing Group

Mutual Fund Planning

Mutual Funds, as with other investments, are affected by changes in exonomic trends and cycles. The value of investments may rise or fall as the stock and bond markets fluctuate. Understanding certain investments concepts and tactivs can hely you lessen risk and maximize opportunity.

Objective of Money Market Funds

Taxable Money Market Funds - Seekt o provide income on cash reserves, while preserving capital and maintaining liquidity, through high-quality money market instruments. Pays dividends monthly.

Tax-Exempts Money Market Funds - Seek to provide income exempt from federal taxes while preserving capital and maintaining liquidity. Pays dividends monthly.

Objective of Bond - Income Funds

Corporate Bond Funds - Seek current income, while preserving capital, by investing in diversified portfolio if high-grad corporate fixed-income securitied.

High Yield Bond Funds - Seek current income, while preserving capital, by investing in diversified portfolio of lower grade, higher yielding corporate and/or government fixed-income securities.

World Bond Funds - Seek to provide high, long-term total return consistent with prudent management by investing in quality fixed-income securities issued by major world government and corporations around the world and in the United States.

Government Bond Funds - Seek current income while preserving capital, by investing in obligations issued or guarantee be the U.S. government or its agencies.

Strategic Income Funds - Seekt o provide a high level of current income and preservation of capital.

State Municipal Bond Funds - Seek to provide current income free from federal and state income taxes. Also seeks to preserve capital.

Municipal Bond Funds - Seek to provide a high level of current income exempt from federal taxes, consistent with the preservation of capital.

Objective of Hybrid Funds

Asset Allocation Funds - As market status changes, these funds shift assets among stocks, bankd and money market securities. Also, unlike many mutual funds, these funds usually ahve no limits on the percentage of assets that can be invested in each asset class at any given time.

Balanced Funds - Seek to provide conservation of capital, current income and long-term growth of capital and income by investing in stocks, bonds and other fixed- income securities.

Income Mixed Funds - Seek to provide current income and , secondarily, growth of capital through a flixible mix of equity and debts instruments.

Objectives of Stock / Equity / Index Funds

The stock market is probably one of the best option for people who want to be involved in hiqh yielding investments. Studies show that the stock market has consistently outperformed all other types of investments over the long-term. However, in a rapidly changing economic and political environment, owning an dmonitoring a portfolio of stocks are required more analysis and effort than tthe average person can handle.

The conviction to purchase a security, the patience to hold on to it as long as needed, and the wisdom to sell at the right time are qualirites that lead to success in the stock market. These qualities, however, are developed through years of experience and require abundant information and capital resources. For the common investor, these qualities can only be obtained through the services of professional fund managers or through investments in actively managed equity funds.

Growth Funds - Seek to provide long-term growth of capital by investing in growing, profitable companies.

Total Return Fund - Seek to provide long-term growth of capital and income primarily through investments in common stocks.

Value Fund - Seek long-term capital growth by investing in diversified stock portfolio of undervalued companies.

World Equity Fund (Global) - Seek long term growth of capital by investing in stocks and bonds with significant exposure to countries that have developing exonomies and markets.

Index Funds - Seek long-term capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of common stocks with returns similar to a specific index, such as the S&P 500.

Sector Funds - Seek to provide high growth of capital by concentrating assets in equities in one sector of the economy such as biotech, telecommunications, precious metals, etc.

Please check daily for article update.

Basic Types of Mutual Funds

Long Term Funds

• Stock /Equity - funds that invest in the variety of stocks
• Index - equity funds that attemt to mirror the performance of specific index, such as the S&P 500.
• Bond - funds that invest in the variety of bonds.
• Hybrid - funds that invest in a combination of stacks, bonds and other securities

Short Term Funds

• Money Market - funds that invest in securities that generally mature in one year or less (very liquid).

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Sources from International Marketing Group

Maximum Investment Returns

Mutual Funds are among the most popular and versatile financial planning vehicles in the United States. They can be useful in achieving the long and short term goals yourve established for your family by completing your personal financial lifestyle strategy (FLS).

- 82.8 million Americans own mutual funds.
- A typical shareholder invests through employer-sponsored retirement plans and has long-term financial goals such as retirement.
- There are more than 7,300 mutual funds representing a wide variety of investment objectives.

A Mutual Fund is an investment company that combines money from individuals and invests in a diversified portfolio of securities. Each investor is a shareholder who buys shares of the fund. Each share represents a proportion of ownership in the funds assets.

There are different types of mutual funds, and each type is a designed to benefit from either a short-term or long term investment strategy.

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