9 Most Popular Types of Mutual Funds

There are so many different types of mutual funds to choose from. Find out which mutual fund types are best suited to your personal investing style.

There are many different types of mutual funds you can choose from. Some of the most popular are:

Equity Mutual Funds
Fixed Income Mutual Funds
Money Market Mutual Funds
No Load Mutual Funds
Growth Stock Mutual Funds
Tax Saving Mutual Funds
Index Mutual Funds
Gold Mutual Funds
Socially Responsible Mutual Funds

Read on to learn the ins and outs of each of the above types of mutual funds.

Equity Mutual Funds

Most people who invest in mutual funds invest in equity funds. In a lot of ways, these emulate the principle upon which a lot of stock-market moves are made: long-term investment resulting in capital gain

Fixed Income Mutual Funds

This type of mutual fund relies mainly on bonds — not a stock in a company but a kind of loan that the company (or a municipality, or a state, or the federal government) then pays back with interest. These are going to pay out a lot less than a successful equity type mutual fund, but the risks are controllable by bond type.

Money Market Mutual Funds

If you’re looking for a place to put your money that’s better than a savings account but very much risk-free, this type of mutual funds typically can do the trick. Most of the time you’ll find money market portfolios full of Treasury bills.

No Load Mutual Funds

A no load mutual fund is a fund in which shares are sold without a commission. The reason for this is that the shares are distributed directly by the investment company, instead of going through a secondary party.

Growth Stock Mutual Funds

A growth stock mutual fund is essentially a diversified portfolio of stocks that has, as it’s primary goal, capital appreciation. It consists mainly of companies with above-average growth in earnings. Instead of paying dividends, these companies will reinvest their earnings into expansion, acquisitions, research and development, etc.

Tax Saving Mutual Funds

A tax-free savings account can hold a variety of investment instruments – one of which is a mutual fund. The fund can grow tax-free for life, meaning that interest, dividends and capital gains earned are never taxed – even when withdrawn!

Index Mutual Funds

An index mutual fund has a portfolio constructed to match the components of a market index (i.e.: S&P 500). This kind of mutual fund is said to provide broad market exposure, low operating expenses and low portfolio turnover.

Gold Mutual Funds

A gold mutual funs invests primarily in gold-producing companies or gold bullion. The price of shares within a gold fund correlates closely to the spot price of gold itself (assuming the fund holds the majority of its assets either in bullion or in the stocks/bonds of gold miners).

Socially Responsible Mutual Funds

Socially responsible mutual funds hold securities in companies that adhere to social, moral, religious or environmental beliefs. To ensure the stocks chosen have values that coincide with the fund’s beliefs, companies undergo a careful screening process.

THE 3 BEST TOOLS FOR BEGINNER INVESTORS

Updated December 25, 2022: At WallStreetSurvivor, our passion is helping you learn to invest in the stock market the RIGHT WAY! As part of our commitment to you, we are constantly evaluating all types of financial tools from stock picking newsletters to brokerage apps to stock screeners and more. Here are our favorites:

1. BEST SOURCE OF STOCK PICKS FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS

We have been tracking ALL of the Motley Fool stock picks since January 2016. That's over 5 years and 120 stock picks. Take a look at their stock picks' performance for the last 5 years:

Average return of their 120 picks from 2016 to 2020 is 233%
That beats the SP500's 88%
84% of their picks are up
57 of those 120 stocks have doubled

Now, no one can guarantee that their next picks will be as strong, but our 5 years of experience has been super profitable as you can see. They do pick some losers, but the key for investors is to invest equal dollar amounts in all of their picks. So if you have $1,000 to invest in the market each month, buy $500 of each of their 2 monthly stock picks.

Normally the Motley Fool service is $199 per year but they are currently offering it at their lowest price ever: Just $79 for 12 months..

CLICK HERE to get the next Motley Fool Stock Pick

2. BEST STOCK BROKERAGE ACCOUNT

Robinhood was the first brokerage site to NOT charge commissions when they opened in 2013. They just past 10,000,000 accounts and to celebrate they are offering one free share of stock (value up to $200) when you open a new account. In addition, they will give you another free share of stock (up to $250) for each friend that you refer, max 3 friends a year.

Here's the details: You must click on a special promo link to open your new Robinhood account. Then when you fund your account with at least $10, you will receive one stock valued between $5 and $200. Then, you will get a link to share with your friends. Every time one of your friends opens an account, you will receive another free stock valued between $5 and $200.

Claim your free stock NOW

3. FIVE STOCKS LIKELY TO DOUBLE

ZACKS Investment Research just released their list of 5 Stocks Likely to Double. ZACKS has been around since 1978 and their top rated stocks have an average gain of 25.35% per year over the last 30+ years. Best of all, you can get this list of 5 stocks for FREE by CLICKING HERE.

PRICE DROP: Get 12 months of Motley Fool stock picks and save $120. New Subscribers can try the service now for just $79.

GET UP TO $200 IN FREE STOCK

WHEN YOU OPEN A ROBINHOOD BROKERAGE ACCOUNT

Robinhood was the first brokerage site to NOT charge commissions when they opened in 2013. They just past 10,000,000 accounts and to celebrate they are offering up to $200 in free stock when you open a new account.