Benefits Of Investing in Mutual Funds
Professional fund managers have the training and experience to manage investments effectively. Investing in funds allows one to benefit from the expertise of professionals who have the resources to thoroughly study potential investments. Their investment decisions are based on extensive knowledge and research of market conditions and the financial performance of individual companies and specific securities. As economic conditions change, the fund may adjust the mix of its investments to adopt a more aggressive or a more defensive posture to meet its investment objective.Liquidity
Liquidity gives the investor the ability to readily access his money in an investment. Fund shares are liquid investments that can be sold on any business day. Funds are required by law to buy, or redeem, shares each business day. The price per share at which you can redeem shares is known as the fund’s net asset value (NAV). NAV is the current market value of all the fund’s assets, minus liabilities, divided by the total number of outstanding shares.Diversification
Funds allow investors to diversify their investment portfolio automatically by holding a wide variety of securities. Moreover, since the assets are pooled with other investors, a fund allows greater diversification at a fraction of the cost than would otherwise be probable for a single investor portfolio.Variety
The fund industry in Pakistan is still in a development phase, yet it offers investors a wide variety of fund types to choose from, depending on their investment objectives. Fund types include pure equity, money market or debt funds or hybrid funds like fixed and variable asset allocation funds or benchmark funds which pursue a certain index. These categories continue to grow as the investor needs become more complex.Convenience
Units can be purchased or sold directly from a fund or through a broker, financial advisory services, bank or insurance agent, by mail, over the telephone, and over the internet. Fund companies also arrange for automatic reinvestment or periodic distribution of the dividends and capital gains paid by the fund. Funds may offer a wide variety of other services, including monthly or quarterly account statements, tax information, and 24-hour phone, computer access to fund and account information, exchanges among funds, automatic investments and withdrawals, and check-writing privileges for some funds. Mutual funds also provide extensive investor education and shareholder communications, including websites, newsletters, brochures, and retirement and other planning guides.Regulation and Disclosure
All fund companies operating in Pakistan are subject to strict regulation and oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission Pakistan (SECP). As part of this regulation, all funds must provide investors with full and complete disclosure about the fund in a written prospectus describing the fund’s investment objective, its investment methods, information on how to purchase and redeem shares, information about the investment adviser, risks of investments and fund fees and expenses.Unit holders are also to be provided with annual and semiannual reports that contain recent information on the fund’s portfolio, performance, and investment goals and policies.