Management Expense Ratio
The management expense ratio (or MER) is the percentage charged by mutual funds on investment holding to pay the management fees of the fund. Management fees are taken from the assets of the fund, lowering the return for investors.
Asset allocation funds are mutual funds that distribute their assets in accordance with all investors’ goals (consistent returns, diversified investments, etc.). Unlike balanced funds, they can shift their portfolio allocations between stocks, bonds and cash in order to capitalize on perceived investment opportunities in any one of those classes.
If a fund’s name includes the term “asset allocation,” it means …read more »
IGM FINANCIAL INC. $51 (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 264.5 million; Market cap: $13.5 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is Canada’s largest mutual fund company, with assets under management of $123.8 billion. Power Financial Corp. owns 56% of IGM’s stock.
IGM sells its funds through two main divisions. Investors Group sells its funds through its own …read more »
Exchange Traded Funds or ETFs are among the more benign investment innovations of our time. Unlike other innovations, they don’t load you up with heavy management fees, nor tie you down with heavy redemption charges if you decide to get out before six years have passed. Instead, they give you a lower-cost and more flexible and convenient alternative to mutual …read more »
T. ROWE PRICE GROUP, INC. $37 (Nasdaq symbol TROW; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; WSSF Rating: Average) sells and manages over 80 no-load mutual funds. The company also provides wealth management, brokerage and other financial services. It currently oversees assets worth roughly $293 billion.
The company prefers to sell its funds directly to investors with no commission fees. That helps keep …read more »
Uncertainty over interest rates, oil prices and the Mideast situation has hurt world equity markets in the past few months. However, we feel that this is a temporary setback, and not the start of a protracted bear market.
These three investment firms earn much of their income based on the value of the securities they manage. Consequently, the recent downturn has …read more »
Management consultants are fond of telling their clients that they should be wary of good ideas that merely save money or make small profits. These good ideas can consume so much time that there’s none left for pursuing the great ideas that build world-scale companies.
You can say something like that about investing. Some good ideas help you cut costs or …read more »
