What is a mutual fund?
A mutual fund is a professionally-managed investment that offers diversity, liquidity and convenience. Each mutual fund is made up of individual stocks, bonds, or money market securities. Because a mutual fund pools the money of many individuals, it has the buying power to invest in hundreds of different securities at once. This means the overall success of a fund does not depend upon the performance of any single holding.

Mutual funds are designed to meet specific investment objectives and most fall into one of three general categories: equity, income and money market. Equity funds invest in stocks; income funds invest in bonds; money market funds hold cash investments. Mutual funds do involve risk. They are not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.1

Why would I want one?
Traditional savings vehicles may not be able to keep up with inflation and the rising cost of living. Mutual funds provide an opportunity to earn higher rates of return.

Because a mutual fund is made up of a diverse mix of holdings, it can reduce volatility -- poor performance of one investment is typically offset by the better performance of the portfolio's other investments.

Mutual funds offer the opportunity to invest in dozens of market sectors. There are, for example, technology, health care and financial service funds. You can choose funds that invest in specific asset classes, too, such as bonds or foreign stocks.

Mutual funds provide liquidity, generally allowing you to sell shares at any time at the current market value. Many also provide the convenience of automatic investing and withdrawal programs, reinvestment of fund distributions and exchanges between funds.

Finally, since mutual funds are managed by experienced investment professionals and grounded in the research of expert analysts, you don't have to spend countless hours researching individual stocks and bonds.