Mutual fund share classes are rankings of different types of services for investors

Mutual funds are categorized as stock, bond, money market, and target-date funds

Each category has even more varieties of funds to choose from, but the biggest differences between these groups are the types of securities they invest in, their risks, returns, and entrance requirements.

Companies often use different share classes, like Class A or Class B, to structure ownership

Share classes refer to specific types of company stock that are distinguished by the rights they grant, such as voting power and dividend access.

Mutual funds are a type of shared investment strategy that pools money

Mutual funds can invest in stocks, bonds, or other types of securities. This method is a popular way for investors to diversify their portfolio with less risk, making it ideal for long-term financial goals (like retirement).

Mutual funds come with a few fees

Since many mutual funds are actively managed, investors will have to pay regular fees to fund this service. Plus, there are exchange fees, purchase fees, marketing fees, and many more.

Compare different mutual funds

Figure out what type of mutual fund is right for you with this tool. Use the search bar to find info on any mutual fund. If you’re deciding between multiple funds, you can select them all to get a comparative analysis on rates, fees, and returns.

Mutual funds in seven broad categories averaged a 13.1% annual return in 2023

That 13.1% figure can help set expectations for how mutual funds will perform in 2024 and 2025, past performance does not guarantee future results.

Open-end and closed-end funds differ in how they create and distribute shares

Open-end funds are able to create new shares on a daily basis, while closed-end funds have a set number of shares. This impacts the way shares are traded on the open market, and the way they’re priced.

Securities is a term used to describe different types of investments

Not every type of investment qualifies as a security (like property or gold). Securities fall under four main categories (equity, debt, derivative, and hybrid) that serve different functions in the market.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Can random investments outperform managed funds?

The biggest selling point of mutual funds is they're usually actively managed. Depending on your investment strategy, this could be a breaking point. This podcast episode includes a conversation with a Wall Street Journal columnist about why one-off investments are sometimes better for your portfolio than an actively managed investment.

ETFs and mutual funds are both taxed on capital gains and on dividends

Many experts consider ETFs to be more tax-efficient—ETFs are less likely to trigger capital gains taxes that must be passed on to the fund holder.

The price of a mutual fund is based on its net asset value (or NAV)

The NAV is determined by the fund’s overall value minus its debts. A mutual fund’s debt is defined as any of its outstanding (or unsold) shares.

Test your ETF knowledge

A 10-question quiz from the SEC allows investors to test their basic knowledge about exchange-traded funds and their investing counterparts, mutual funds. Here’s a sample question: Is the past performance of a fund a good indicator of future results? (Hint, the answer is no).

Investors can buy three main types of bonds: government, corporate, and municipal

Each type has variations of its bond offerings with different interest rates, loan lengths, maturity dates, and terms. Each type also carries its own risks and rewards.

One $100 investment in the Medallion Fund skyrockets over time

The Medallion Fund, the famously secretive quant fund that invests billions of dollars for the partners and employees of a single firm with a legendary track record, has trounced the market for more than three decades. While its results are an extreme outlier, this visualization showcases the power of compound interest.

Startups fundraise in 'rounds' as they prove out their business and scale

When startups take on outside funding, those investments are divided into different "rounds." These rounds are catered to different stages in a startup's life cycle—a startup often needs different types of investors and amounts of funding at different stages of the business. For instance, a pre-seed investment round can include investments ranging from about $25K to $500K, whereas a Series D investment can be hundreds of millions of dollars.

Active investors try to 'beat' the stock market's performance

There are two primary types of investment strategies that professional investors use: active investing and passive investing. While active investors try to "beat" the stock market's performance, passive investors have a bit more faith in the system.

When compared to stocks and bonds, alternative investments are often less regulated

Alternative investments are also often less liquid than traditional investments; they carry unique risk, return, and tax considerations.

Accredited investors are people or other entities allowed to participate in investments that aren’t registered with the SEC

The accreditation is meant to protect retail investors from potential losses. Financial professionals with Series 7, 65, or 82 licenses qualify, but so do individuals with over $1M in net worth.

How university endowments invest in the capital markets

This PitchBook article explores how university endowments invest in capital markets to support their institutions. It explains how endowments are structured and managed to generate returns that fund scholarships, research, and operations. The piece also discusses the evolution of endowment investment strategies. This is a valuable read for understanding the financial mechanisms behind academic endowments.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

The market share of institutional investors in the US housing market is less than 1%

Institutional investors have drawn negative media attention for their purported role in limiting housing supply and driving housing unaffordability. This report separates myth from fact in the nuanced discussion around institutional investors' role in the US housing market.

529 plans can affect college financial aid

Income affects FAFSA financial aid determinations. FAFSA also takes 529 college savings plans into account. The percentage of savings it uses in its calculations depends on who owns the account (parent, student, or someone else). Other schools use a program called CSS to determine financial aid, and those determinations vary.

Warren Buffett's advice for middle-class investors includes "pay yourself first"

Warren Buffett might not be part of the middle class himself (he's one of the richest people in the world), but he still knows a thing or two about everyday personal finance tips. This article chronicles his six best pieces of advice for the middle class.

See how local, state, and federal governments divide the cost of public services

Federal, state, and local governments share responsibility for funding public services. Education, roads, and social programs are funded through a complicated mix of taxes and intergovernmental transfers.

Dow components are chosen by a committee, not a formula

Unlike many indices, the Dow has no strict rules for inclusion. A small committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices uses judgment—favoring companies with strong reputations, steady growth, and broad investor interest.

Carried interest is a share of the profits that a venture capital firm’s general partners earn

Also known as "carry" for short, carried interest is roughly 20% of a fund’s returns, but the exact percentage varies between firms.

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Use this calculator to find the dollar value of your mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care for your children.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

Ebola is a filovirus, meaning it resembles a thread under a microscope, though it sometimes twists and can resemble a bowl of spaghetti.