An Easier Way to Research Mutual Funds

For any person who invests in mutual funds, picking the right ones can be as tough as trying to understand the tax code. But now the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) is helping investors understand how to pick a mutual fund.

Last November, the NASD unveiled its new-and-improved Mutual Fund Expense Analyzer. This online tool enables investors to determine quickly and easily the expenses associated with more than 18,000 mutual funds and 160 exchange traded funds (ETFs).

It also will estimate and graph a fund's value over time - for any holding period specified by the user, as well as over a 20-year period - providing a running total of expenses the investor would pay during each period.

The tool also will compare the expenses of up to three ETFs, mutual funds, or share classes of the same mutual fund simultaneously. Users simply enter a ticker symbol or select a fund, share class, or fund family from a drop-down menu, and the tool automatically displays a screen with expense and fee information.

The new Mutual Fund Expense Analyzer also provides details about the fund or funds selected well beyond fee and expense information, such as investment objective and minimum purchase information.

You can access the Mutual Fund Expense Analyzer by clicking on "NASD" in our "Links" section. Then on the NASD home page, click on "Mutual Funds," and then scroll down on the right side of the screen to "Tools & Resources" where you will find the Mutual Fund Expense Analyzer listed.

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