As said there are many types of mutual fund as it is a generic term. That is Unit Trusts, Investment Trust companies, Hedge funds, OEICS, Broker funds, structure funds, ETFs etc. etc.
NAV is all the investments valued and added up then divided by the number of units/shares issued. Open ended funds will be priced near their NAV whereas closed ended funds could trade at a large discount or premium to net asset value.
An ETF is a passive fund (tracker rather than managed) so will be cheaper.
Mutual funds are like people, they come in all shapes and sizes.
There are mutual funds which track the S&P 500, there are mutual funds which only invest in select stock types of industries.
Typically, a mutual fund will pay out a gain or a dividend quarterly or at end of year, but there is not a hard and fast rule. To answer your question on the payout, you must go to each mutual fund prospectus for its history or go to yahoo finance and put in the letters of the fund to get your information in one place. For example, if you put in FSELX,into yahoo finance, you will ger the payouts and holdings of the fund.
You seem a bit confused on the basics. You would be well to read a couple books online or go to your local schwab or fidelity office to talk with someone, after you line up your questions and do your homework online. Good luck.
There are over 9,000 different kinds of mutual funds out there.
They range from stocks, bonds and cash instruments They
come in different sizes and shapes to get the attention of any
type investor. You buy into the fund at the present net asset
value NAV and when you sell, you get the present NAV for
all the shares you own or redeem. Don't treat mutual funds
like a stock. They are an investment for the long term.
See link for mutual fund investing.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4516142_invest-m...
Go to Vanguard or Fidelity. They have many good funds. You can call and talk to a representative. They can answer your basic questions very quickly.
Ive been reading up on it and really havnt found anything helpful. How do I make money off it, does it give out payments (coupon) until maturity. Whats the NAV is that what i receive would I times that by the amount of stock i bought. Is it like that, or is there a set price for a mutual fund. Do I say can i get x amount of mutual fund?
