The Risk Of Investing In Mutual Funds, Stocks And Bonds

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By Debra Kennedy


When it comes to investing, it often pays to be cautious. Otherwise, individuals can lose everything, sometimes on the same day. As such, it often pays to know which investments are riskier than others. With that being said, most all investments have at least a small associated risk including mutual funds.

While stocks and bonds tend to pose the most risk, fund based investments can also become volatile. All an investor has to do is lack back upon the Enron disaster to see that 401Ks stocked with these type investments can experience more losses than gains. As such, while fund based investing is often safer, there really is no such thing as a safe investment.

To build a portfolio, an investment company will pool money from a number of different investors. After which, the portfolio manager will purchase a variety of different type securities for each portfolio based on client needs and goals. The manager then manages the portfolio by staying abreast of current trends in the stock market, then buying and selling client holdings over time.

All investments of this size and scope must be registered with the United States securities and exchange commission. After which, all investment portfolios must be managed by a registered advisor and overseen by a board of trustees. In most cases, these funds are tax-free. To assure this is the case, investors need to comply with all related Internal Revenue code requirements as set out in the Investment Company Code Act in 1940.

Regardless of these requirements and associated risks, most employers love stocking 401K retirement accounts with these type funds. While this is the case, there are both advantages and disadvantages to employees. For, an employee could work for twenty years, place a great deal of money into a retirement account, then lose everything if a company were to go bankrupt.

In looking at these type investments, there are basically three different options. These are open-ended, exchange-traded and non-exchange traded funds. Each of which, save for the first, has its own set of limitations. For example, while an open-ended fund can be bought, sold and traded in and outside the exchange, exchange-traded must be bought and sold during the times the exchange is open. Whereas, non-exchange traded funds must be bought, sold and traded outside the exchange.

The four main categories of the stock market include equity or stock, fixed income or bonds, market and hybrid funds. In addition, funds can either be listed as actively or passively managed based on the age and content of each portfolio. While stocks and bonds are notably the most risky of all investments, mutual and other funds also hold some risk.

For many investors, one of the biggest drawbacks is that the management fees for an investment company or portfolio manager are paid out of the fund. As such, if there are little to no profits, a fund can turn upside down simply due to these fees. As such, it is imperative to have anyone managing a portfolio provide information with relation to the success or failure of these type investments on a regular basis.




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