Glossary

The Glossary provides explanations of key phrases used on Fund.com

A

Assets Under Management
The current total value of a mutual fund's securities (i.e., stocks and bonds).
Average Return
The simple mathematical average of a mutual fund's set of returns earned over time. It is calculated by adding the return values together, then dividing that sum by the number of time periods involved.

B

Back-End Load
A fee you must pay if you sell your mutual fund before a preset date. The fee is highest if you sell within a year of purchase, and decreases as it nears the preset date, when it drops to zero.
Basic View
Shows mutual funds by Fund Name, Fund Type, Fund Category, YTD, and Total Return. For definitions of these terms, see the glossary.
Bonds
Funds that are primarily composed of Bonds. Bond funds are categorized by their average portfolio maturities - long, intermediate and short - and credit quality - high, medium and low.
Broker
A person or firm that acts as an intermediary between an investor and financial products, such as mutual funds, and may charges a fee or commission for doing so.

C

Cash
Funds investing that are invested in cash equivalent instruments.
(Last) Change
The difference between a mutual fund's closing price and the previous day's closing price.

D

Dow Jones Industrial Average
An index fund made up of 30 blue-chip stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq. The DJIA was created by Charles Dow in 1896.

E

Exchange
Like the New York Stock Exchange, this is a marketplace where securities (i.e., stocks and bonds) and other financial instruments are fairly traded. It can be a physical location where traders conduct business, or it can also be an electronic platform.
Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)
A fund that typically tracks a stock market index (i.e., S&P 500), a sector (i.e., technology), or a commodity (i.e., gold or petroleum), but is traded like a stock on an exchange (e.g. the New York Stock Exchange).
Expense Ratio
A yearly calculation of how much you pay to own share in a mutual fund.

F

Fees, and Expenses
Charges that come from purchasing a managed mutual fund.
Fixed Interest Rate
An interest rate that stays the same throughout a preset amount of time.
Front-End Load
A sales charge or commission paid for a mutual fund at the time of the initial investment in the fund. It is subtracted from the dollar amount used to start your mutual fund and therefore decreases the size of your investment.
Fund Category
Differentiates mutual funds based on their characteristics, such as risk and return or portfolio holdings. Classifies a mutual fund as one of four types: international stock fund, U.S. stock fund, bond fund, or cash fund.
Fund Family
A group of mutual funds offered by one investment company that may cover a wide range of categories and goals. Well-known families include Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, and Vanguard.
Fund Name
The name of a mutual fund.
Fund Performance
Compares a mutual fund's performance over time or against its competition. This usually refers to the absolute return of the fund in addition to comparison against its peer group and a benchmark.
Fund Profile
A mutual fund’s recent performance summary.
Fund Symbol
A unique arrangement of characters (usually letters) that represent a mutual fund.
Future Contributions
The dollar amount and frequency with which you want to add to your investment.

G

Goal
What you want to achieve by investing. When you know what you're planning for, it's easier to build a portfolio that will work for you.
Growth Fund
A mutual fund made up of stocks from companies that are perceived to have above-average growth in earnings and typically reinvest their earnings for expansion and research.
Growth of $10,000
A demonstration of how $10,000 invested in a fund would have changed over time; typically shown in the form of a chart.

H

I

Index Fund
An index fund essentially matches the market. It has no manager in the traditional sense and is simply made up of representative amounts of each stock in the index. The most well known are the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index. The "500" are the 500 largest publicly traded American companies. With an index fund, you are essentially wagering on the stock market as a whole. An index fund buys equal shares of each of these stocks, which really spreads your risk around.
Industry
A narrower grouping of companies related to each other based on their biggest sources of revenue. For example, even though an automobile manufacturer may earn 10% of its total revenue from a financing division, it is still classified within the automotive industry.
International Stock Funds
Funds that are composed of International Stocks.
Invested Today
The dollar amount you have to start your investment with.

J

K

L

Large cap
A company with a total value of more than approximately $10 billion. A company's total value is calculated by multiplying its stock price by the number of shares owned by investors.
Lipper Leaders
Mutual funds ranked by Lipper in five categories: Consistent Return, Expense, Preservation, Tax Efficiency, and Total Return.
Lipper Report (Average)
A report by Lipper Analytical Services that measures the average performance of all mutual funds.
Load Fund
A mutual fund that is sold with a sales charge or commission, which is paid to a broker for his or her expertise in selecting funds for you.

M

Management Info
Information about a mutual fund's managing company and the person or people responsible for selecting the investments.
Mild cap
A company with a total value between approximately $2 and $10 billion. A company's total value is calculated by multiplying its stock price by the number of shares owned by investors.
Minimum Investment
The minimum dollar amount you need to invest in a mutual fund.
Mutual Fund
Mutual funds are portfolios of multiple company’s stocks, picked and managed by a professional fund manager. Each company's stock within the portfolio has a different value that will fluctuate. The mutual fund's share price is determined by its net asset value, which also fluctuates with the circumstances of the various companies within the fund. Mutual funds offer a lot of diversity.

N

Net Asset Value or (Market) Price
A mutual fund's per-share dollar amount, calculated by dividing the total value of the mutual fund's assets by the number of shares outstanding.
No-Load Fund
A mutual fund that is sold without a sales charge or commission.
No Transaction-Fee Fund
A mutual fund that can be bought from a broker without a commission fee. (If you have only a small amount of money to start your investment, this offers a significant advantage.)

O

Opportunity for Success
This gauge represents our estimate of how likely you are to reach your goal: the higher the percentage, the greater the likelihood. The assumptions behind it are straightforward: we assume average returns on investments over time, and adjust them based on historical inflation rates. Because past performance does not ensure future results, the gauge is meant only to offer you a bit of guidance. Estimates are subject to many unanticipated factors, and a high percentage should only be taken in that spirit. In no way is it a guarantee that you will meet your goal.

P

Performance Over Time
Tracks a mutual fund's performance over a period of time: 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, or YTD (from January 1 of the current year to today).
Performance View
Shows a mutual fund's returns over YTD, 1 YR, 2 YRS, 3 YRS, 5 YRS, 10 YRS, and its Total Return. For definitions of these terms, see the glossary.
Portfolio
A recommended combination of fund types that create a diversified investment strategy to help you reach your goal.
Prospectus
A legal document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that provides facts about a mutual fund's strategy and focus so you can make informed decisions when you invest.

Q

R

Rating View
Shows mutual funds by Total Return, Consistent Return, Preservation, and Tax Efficiency & Expenses. or definitions of these terms, see the glossary.
Risk
The potential for a change in the value of your investments. The greater risk you're willing to take on, the greater your potential return. After all, you need to be compensated for taking on additional risk.
Russell 2000
The Russell 2000 Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Russell 2000 Index is a subset of the Russell 3000® Index representing approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of that index. It includes approximately 2000 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. (source: Russell website). The Russell 2000 is the benchmark for U.S. small cap stocks.

S

S&P 500
An index fund that includes 500 of the leading companies in the leading industries in the US economy. Although it focuses on the large cap sector of the market, it is also an ideal proxy for the total market. (source: S&P website)
Sector
A broad grouping of companies based on the products and services they provide (i.e. technology, financials, utilities, etc).
Small cap
A company with a total value between approximately $300 million and $2 billion. A company's total value is calculated by multiplying its stock price by the number of shares owned by investors.

T

Timeframe
The amount of time you want to reach your goal in.
Top 5 Holdings
The five largest securities (i.e., stocks and bonds) held in a mutual fund, as measured by the assets in each security.
Total Return
A mutual fund's return over a specific period of time, including price appreciation, dividends and capital gains distributions.

U

U.S. Stock Funds
Funds that are primarily composed of U.S. Stocks. Basic categories are defined by the size of the companies in which the fund invests - large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap - and investment style - value, growth and blend (value/growth mix).

V

Value Fund
A mutual fund that is made up of stocks that are perceived to be trading at a discount. Stocks in a value fund are more likely to pay dividends, which are portion's of the company's earnings, to shareholders.
Variable Interest Rate
An interest rate that moves up and down based on the changes of an underlying interest rate index (e.g. the Prime Rate).

W

X

Y

YTD
The period of time from January 1 of the current year to today.

Z