What is a Mutual Fund?
The idea behind a mutual fund is simple: Many people pool their money in a fund, which invests in various securities. Each investor shares proportionately in the fund’s investment returns — the income (dividends or interest) paid on the securities and any capital gains or losses caused by sales of securities the fund holds.
Every mutual fund has a manager, also called an investment adviser, who directs the fund’s investments according to the fund’s objective, such as long-term growth, high current income, or stability of principal. Depending on its objective, a fund may invest in stocks, bonds, cash investments, or a combination of these financial assets.
Growth and Value Funds Explained
Growth Funds
As their name implies, these funds tend to look for the fastest-growing companies on the market. Growth managers are willing to take more risk and pay a premium for their stocks in an effort to build a portfolio of companies with above-average earnings momentum or price appreciation.
For example, Dell and Microsoft are generally considered “expensive” stocks, because their prices have been bid high relative to their profits. But because they enjoy vibrant markets and have rapid earnings growth, managers like Scott Schoelzel of Janus Twenty have no qualms paying big prices. Schoelzel knows that investors crave these super-charged growth stocks and will keep piling into them as long as the growth keeps up. But if the growth slows, watch out — the more momentum a stock has, the harder it is likely to fall when the news turns bad.
That’s why growth funds are the most volatile of the three investment styles. It’s also why expenses and turnover (which leads to tax liability) are also higher. For these reasons, only aggressive investors, or those with enough time to make up for short-term market losses, should buy these spooky funds.
Value Funds
These funds like to invest in companies that the market has overlooked. Managers like Marty Whitman of Third Avenue Value search for stocks that have become “undervalued” — or priced low relative to their earnings potential.
Sometimes a stock has run into a short-term problem that will eventually be fixed and forgotten. Or maybe the company is too small or obscure to attract much notice. In any event, the manager makes a judgment that there’s more potential there than the market has recognized. His bet is that the price will rise as others come around to the same conclusion.
Whitman, for instance, bought real-estate insurance company First American Financial early in 1997 before it was discovered by the Street. The stock rose 96% in 1998 and still traded at just 9.5 times the past 12-month earnings — a steal when you consider the market average at the time was more like 22 times earnings.
The big risk with value funds is that the “undiscovered gems” they try to spot sometimes remain undiscovered. That can depress results for extended periods of time. Volatility, however, is quite low, and if you choose a good fund, the risk of doggy returns should be minimal. Also, because these fund managers tend to buy stocks and hold them until they turn around, expenses and turnover are low. Add it up, and value funds are most suitable for more conservative, tax-averse investors.
Blend Funds
These can go across the board. They might, for instance, invest in both high-growth Internet stocks and cheaply priced automotive companies. As such, they are difficult to classify in terms of risk. The Vanguard 500 Index fund invests in every company in the S&P 500 and could therefore qualify as a blend. But because it’s also a large-cap fund, it tends to be steady. The Legg Mason Special Investment fund is more aggressive, with heavy weightings in technology and financials. In order to determine if a particular blend fund is right for your needs, you’ll probably have to look at the fund’s holdings and make a call.
