According to a 2004 study published in The Journal of Finance, 20% of your after-tax investment earnings can be lost if funds are placed in the wrong type of account. WOW! This problem, once understood, can be easily avoided. Everyone should be familiar with the concept of asset allocation: the division of your money into different stocks/mutual funds that represent different areas of the stock market ... Full story

Another man’s pain is another man’s gain and more so now than ever. The beleaguered hedge fund industry is rife with talk of consolidation as the downturn provides an opportunity for larger firms to acquire smaller firms at a bargain rate. This is driven by dramatically shrinking assets making the smaller firms not the lucrative business they once were. This is leading ... Full story

The force of the knock across the financial sector over the past 12 months has exposed the weaknesses in the global financial tectonic plates. From New York to London to Hong Kong to Tokyo, the newly formed global network cracked under the strains of the economic quake as the ground shook. Some of the institutional pillars of the financial world shook. Iceland ... Full story

In the recent Vanguard’s study, the analysts have announced a decline of 17% in investors’ defined contribution accounts from January 2008 to March 2009 Many investors chose to stay put (inertia) rather canceling retirement plans contributions or withdrawing funds from their 401(k) plans under difficult market conditions. Despite their inaction, investors may still be concerned about their retirement saving, economic outlook and the market environment. The study ... Full story

By Warren Parker Any successful investor will tell you that the key to success when it comes to investing is to diversify your portfolio. Mutual funds are an excellent investment vehicle as they allow you to diversify your investments while reducing risk. Here are the top 4 advantages and why you should invest. 1. Diversification - Mutual funds typically consist of investments from stocks, bonds, treasury ... Full story

Dow 8,750.24 Up 74.96 (0.86%), Equity market has shown some resilience in the beginning of the trading day and so as some of the funds. Take a quick look at the performance of these funds: FRESX E- 14.65 +3.83% FBIOX B+ 59.40 +2.70% FGRIX E+ 13.66 +1.41% GRMIX C+ 7.93 +1.15% PRASX C- 12.67 +1.04% Full story

Mutual funds allow people to invest their money in a way that will provide them with future benefits. When you are looking at a mutual fund in which you can invest in you may wish to look at several different ones. The mutual fund performance will help you to see what stocks and bonds work well in the market as compared to others. You can ... Full story

Comparing mutual funds is fairly simple when you have a good understanding of the key statistics and know how to employ them effectively. The key statistics listed below should serve you well in comparing mutual funds. Mutual Fund Returns *Average Return *Risk-Adjusted Return Mutual Fund Risk *Standard Deviation *Beta Risk-to-Return *Sharpe Ratio *Coefficient of Variation *Treynor Ratio You'll find these ... Full story

As our economic outlook continues to be poor and as the stock market is in turmoil, stock investing has become increasingly difficult. Maintaining a solid investment portfolio can be hard work. One alternative to the difficult work of stock selection is to invest in mutual funds. With thousands of mutual funds to choose from, how can you tell which ones are the ... Full story

A mutual fund is a company that pools money from many investors and invests the money in stocks, debentures/bonds, equities, short-term money market tools or other securities. The income produced through these investments plus the appreciation of capital earned by the scheme are shared by its entity holders depending on the units possessed by them. Thus, mutual funds can be well thought of as financial ... Full story