Mutual Funds: Performance Evaluation and Regulations
Overview/Description Target Audience Expected Duration Lesson Objectives Course Number Overview/Description
Over the past few decades the mutual fund industry has seen extreme swings in performance, resulting in dramatic changes in the value of investors' portfolios. The risk versus return dynamics of a mutual fund must be carefully analyzed by any investor. The investors must consider whether the type of mutual fund they are about to invest in is appropriate for their objectives. In order to do so, the investor should assess the fund's historical return and the amount of risk that the fund has taken to achieve that return, as well as other critical factors. To assess all this information, investors must be able to read and understand the fund prospectus and any other complementary information that is provided by the fund manager and other public sources. The mutual fund industry is a highly regulated industry whereby financial authorities set rules and restrictions to improve transparency of transactions, in an effort to ensure the safety of investors' money. This course introduces a number of performance metrics such as Total Return, Sharpe Ratio, Treynor Ratio, Alpha, Standard Deviation, Beta, and R-squared, which are used to determine the risk and return characteristics of a mutual fund. The course then covers the basics of a mutual fund prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, along with an overview of global mutual fund regulations.
Target Audience
Financial services professionals, consultants, and sales professionals interested in providing or selling products and services to fund managers, insurance companies, and banks, and everyone interested in knowing about mutual funds, their evaluation, and portfolio management