Mutual Funds

A measure of selection risk (also known as residual risk) of a mutual fund or other security in relation to the market. A positive alpha is the extra return awarded to the investor for taking a risk, instead of accepting the market return. For example, an alpha of 0.4 means the fund outperformed the market-based return estimate by 0.4 %. – A negative alpha such as -0.6 means a fund's monthly return was 0.6 % less than would have been predicted from the change in the market alone.

Employee of a brokerage or fund management house who studies companies and makes buy and sell recommendations on their stocks. Most specialize in a specific industry

The measure of a fund's risk in relation to the market. 0.7 means the fund's total return is likely to move up or down 70 % of the market change; 1.3 means total return is likely to move up or down 30 % more than the market.

A fee which may be charged by a broker or Mutual Fund company, for selling a mutual fund which has not been held for a required minimum period.

The management company that runs and/or sells units of the fund. Fund families often offer several funds with different investment objectives.

For mutual funds, the amount required to open a new account (Minimum Initial Purchase) or to deposit into an existing account (Minimum Additional Purchase). These minima may be lowered for buyers participating in an automatic purchase plan. Brokers selling mutual funds may require higher minimums than the Fund Company.

A mutual fund that invests only in short term securities, such as bankers' acceptances, commercial paper, repurchase agreements and government bills. The net asset value per share is usually maintained at a specific price such as $1.00 or $10.00. Such funds are not federally insured, although the portfolio may consist of guaranteed securities and/or the fund may have private insurance protection.

An open-end investment company that pools investors' money to invest in a variety of stocks, bonds, or other securities. A mutual fund issues and redeems shares to meet demand, and the redemption value per share is the net asset value per share, less in some cases a redemption fee which represents a rear-end load.

The value of a fund's investments. For a mutual fund, the net asset value per share usually represents the fund's market price, subject to a possible sales or redemption charge. For a closed end fund, the market price may vary significantly from the net asset value.

An open-end investment company, shares of which are sold without a sales charge. There can be other distribution charges, however. A true "no load" fund will have neither a sales charge nor a distribution fee.

The fund's investment strategy category as stated in the prospectus. There are more than 40 standardized categories.

Formal written document to sell securities that describes the plan for a proposed business enterprise, or the facts concerning an existing one, that an investor needs to make an informed decision. Prospectuses are used by Mutual Funds to describe the fund objectives, risks and other essential information.

The commission charged by a mutual fund when redeeming shares. For example, a 2 % redemption charge (also called a "back end load") on the sale of shares valued at $1000 will result in payment of $980 (or 98 % of the value) to the investor. This charge may decrease or be eliminated as shares are held for longer time periods.