Investors have increasingly turned to mutual funds to save for education, retirement and other financial goals.
The popularity of mutual funds has resulted in significant industry growth in terms of the number of funds, variety of funds and in the dollar value of assets under management.
This course presents a complete and comprehensive overview on the topic of mutual funds. It begins with a thorough study of mutual fund characteristics, features and benefits. The course covers several major forms of investment management companies including Unit Investment Trusts (UITs), Open-end and Closed-end mutual funds, and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Topics included in the course are a complete list of fund investment objectives, risks, fees and expenses. The course next explores taxation issues including Subchapter M of the IRS Code and issues faced by investors including taxation of distributions and several IRS accepted methods of calculating cost basis. The course describes the structure if the fund including the team of different entities (board of directors, investment manager, custodian…) that work together to serve investor needs. Among the timely topics included is the application breakpoints and recent breakpoint abuse. The course concludes with a discussion of asset allocation and the role of mutual funds to help investors meet their financial goals.
Learning Objectives:
- Know features and benefits of mutual funds.
- Understand various types of funds and fund management structures
- Learn about investment risks, fees and expenses
- Understand taxation issues for mutual fund investors
- Learn to avoid problems with breakpoint use
- Understand how to use funds to achieve asset allocation goals