Mutual Funds in the United States
A mutual fund is a type of investment vehicle. They are usually marketed as an easy way for people to invest in a type of assets or according to a particular investment philosophy that would be difficult for individuals to manage on their own. Investors can generally buy and sell shares in the fund at any time, which makes them attractive to investors. The fund gets various fees for its services, often a percentage of the money invested, which makes them attractive to mutual fund companies.
Legal Materials
Calculator: Kiplinger posts Mutual Fund Tools and Calculators that figure things like, “How much do fees affect my return?.” CNN/Money posts a calculator that figures the Taxable Equivalent Yield for a tax-free fund, or vice versa.
Directors: Information about the directors on a mutual fund’s board are published in the fund’s “Statement of Additional Information” (SAI). This includes the directors’ names and compensation, the other boards they sit on, and their personal holdings in the fund. Pimco Funds, Janus and a few other companies make SAIs available on their Web sites; otherwise, you have to call the company and ask for a copy.
Foreign Funds: Equivalents to mutual funds are known as: “unit trusts” or OEICs in the United Kingdom, Australia and Hong Kong; SICAVs and Fonds Commun de Placement (FCPs) in France and Luxembourg; KAGs or AVSVs in Germany; UCITs in other parts of Europe; and “investment trusts” in Japan.
Laws & Regulation: Mutual funds are subject to most of the major securities laws (the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, etc.). The CCH Mutual Funds Guide is a 2-volume looseleaf service compiling the relevant Federal and state laws in one source. See also the separate entry for “Securities Laws” in this Guide. Mutual Funds: Law and Practice (Law Journal Press) discusses the relevant securities and tax laws as well as the business side of operating mutual funds.
Performance: Mutual funds report their performance in their annual reports. You can get a chart of a fund’s historical performance from Yahoo! Finance. The annual CDA/Wiesenberger Investment Companies Yearbook gives an overview of how each mutual fund did during a given year. The Wall Street Journal publishes a Quarterly Mutual Fund Guide, based on Lipper data, that runs near the beginning for January, April, July and October.
Quotes and Performance: For current mutual quotes, look in the newspaper, or use quote search on Yahoo! Finance or MarketWatch or another free Internet quote provider. For historical quotes, use the services listed in the separate entry for “Stock Prices.”
Ratings: Morningstar posts detailed “QuickTake” Reports in the “Research” section of its Internet site, which includes most of what you want to know about a mutual fund. For even more detailed information, look up the fund in Morningstar Mutual Fund Ratings.
The other major source for fund ratings is Lipper. Lipper data is used in the Forbes bi-annual rankings (in the February and August issues), the Wall Street Journal Quarterly Mutual Fund Guide (discussed below), and several other places.
Statement of Additional Information: See “Directors,” above.
Mutual Funds and the State Laws
Select from the list of U.S. States below for state-specific information on Mutual Funds:
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Alabama Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Alaska Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Arizona Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Arkansas Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the California Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Colorado Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Connecticut Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Delaware Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Florida Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Georgia Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Hawaii Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Idaho Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Illinois Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Indiana Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Iowa Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Kansas Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Kentucky Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Louisiana Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Maine Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Maryland Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Massachusetts Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Michigan Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Minnesota Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Mississippi Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Missouri Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Montana Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Nebraska Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Nevada Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the New Hampshire Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the New Jersey Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the New Mexico Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the New York Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the North Carolina Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the North Dakota Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Ohio Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Oklahoma Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Oregon Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Pennsylvania Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Rhode Island Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the South Carolina Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the South Dakota Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Tennessee Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Texas Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Utah Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Vermont Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Virginia Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Washington Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the West Virginia Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Wisconsin Portal
- Mutual Funds in the Subject Index of the Wyoming Portal
Resources
See Also
Stock Prices
Bond Prices
CUSIP Numbers
Securities and Exchange Commission
Securities Laws
Unit Trusts
Further Reading
- Information about Mutual Funds in the Gale Encyclopedia of American Law.
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