| A mutual fund investment involves buying into a | | | | of both retail and industrial sector options, you will |
| wide variety of options that range from individual | | | | reduce the impact in terms of performance of |
| bonds, stocks and other money market securities. | | | | any one portfolio. You will not notice sharp hikes |
| Buy owning shares in a mutual fund investment, | | | | and big falls, what you get will be evenly spread |
| rather than individual stocks and bonds, your risk | | | | out. Both large and small time investors should |
| is widely spread out among the portfolios that the | | | | always strife to achieve this kind of asset |
| investment managers decide to invest in, making | | | | diversification and allocation in order to minimize |
| your investment even more secure. | | | | losses. |
| This kind of risk spreading is referred to as | | | | It would be important to note that, by itself, a |
| diversification. Since each option class behaves in a | | | | mutual fund investment gives you immediate |
| different way, depending on the prevailing market | | | | diversification by the virtue of the fact that many |
| conditions, when one of the securities decline, the | | | | investors have pooled resources together in order |
| losses incurred are balanced by the gains of the | | | | to invest in a variety of options, but in itself, it is |
| other. One arrangement that has always worked | | | | not enough. You need to invest both in sector and |
| for me has been, buying stocks and bonds from | | | | industry based options since, when the industrial |
| the retail sector and offsetting any gains or losses | | | | segment is doing badly, other sectors of the |
| with options in the industrial sector. I make sure i | | | | economy, like insurance and health care would be |
| balance the different capitalizations available from | | | | doing very well. This will cushion you, as an |
| the different sectors with the time the bonds will | | | | investor, from any hard economic scenario that |
| take to mature and vice versa. | | | | will definitely be felt when you decide to invest in |
| Since diversification of mutual funds entails mixing | | | | one security. |