Jeffrey Matthews Financial Group

Mutual Funds are among the most popular types of investment vehicles. Mutual funds offer certain advantages over individual securities, such as the ability to diversify the client’s holdings along with the services of a professional money manager. However, with thousands of mutual funds available, each with varying asset classes, investment risk profiles, fees affecting returns and tax ramifications, investing in mutual funds can be quite complex.

Whether you are interested in money market funds, bond funds or stock funds, deciding which type of fund or combination is dependent on many factors.

At Jeffrey Matthews, we take what can be a confusing process and simplify it for our clients, providing you with the right information at the right time in order to help you make the most educated investment decision. Furthermore, we continually monitor the financial markets and we will assist you in monitoring your portfolio in order to make sound investment decisions as your goals change.

TYPES OF FUNDS*

Bond Funds

Because there are many different types of bonds, bond funds (also called fixed income funds) can vary dramatically in their risks and returns. Bond funds generally have higher risks than money market funds — which have relatively low risks since, by law, they can invest only in certain high-quality, short-term investments issued by the U.S. government, U.S. corporations, and state and local governments. Unlike money market funds, bond fund strategies can vary, as they can seek to produce higher yields.

Stock Funds

Stock funds (also called equity funds) typically fall into the following broad categories:

Growth: A fund that focuses on stocks that may not pay a regular dividend but have the potential for large capital gains.
Income: A fund that invests in stocks that pay regular dividends.
Index: A fund that aims to achieve the same return as a particular market index, such as the S&P 500 Composite.
Sector: A fund that may specialize in a particular industry segment, such as technology or consumer products stocks.

Balanced Funds

A fund that combines a stock component, a bond component and, sometimes, a money market component in a single portfolio. Generally, these hybrid funds stick to a relatively fixed mix of stocks and bonds, which reflects either a moderate (higher equity component) or conservative (higher fixed-income component) orientation.

Domestic

A domestic fund invests in securities issued by companies based in the U.S. Depending on the funds strategy, investments within a given fund can include growth and value companies, small/mid/large cap companies, as well as blends.

International Funds

An International Fund (also called a Foreign Fund) is generally a mutual fund that can invest in companies located anywhere outside of the United States of America. An international fund can typically be distinguished from a global fund in that a global fund includes the entire world, which therefore includes U.S. securities.

529 College Savings Plans

529 college savings plans, so-called because they are established under Section 529 of the federal income tax code, are established by states for the purpose of providing a program for individuals wishing to invest to pay for qualified higher education expenses. Usually, but not always, structured similar to a mutual fund or fund of funds, 529 college savings plans are offered by virtually every state. Each state may provide a range of investment options, and the investment options may vary greatly from state to state.

FOR STRATEGIES THAT HELP TARGET A PREFERRED RATE OF RETURN

CONTACT A JEFFREY MATTHEWS FINANCIAL ADVISOR TODAY

Registrations
Jeffrey Matthews is registered to conduct business in 45 states and the District of Columbia. We can only provide securities products in these jurisdictions. If you live in a state where we are not registered, please contact us to request to register in your state.
For a list of states where we are currently registered click here.

*Information reproduced or adapted from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), www.investopedia.com, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) or MSRB’s official repository for municipal bond information.