A mutual fund is a type of investment in which the funds of several investors are pooled together to make an investment product. An investment in a group of assets is made to reach the investment goal of the funds. There are many different types of mutual funds in the market, and it is vital to know how to identify the best mutual fund to invest in to make profits. Here are some tips:

1. Identify profile type
Before one invests, one of the first things to know is the goals of the investment. Identify them. Ask questions like, “Is this for long-term investment?” or “Is this a fund to pay for some immediate goals or a retirement plan? These questions will help one identify and understand personal investment goals.

Apart from the objective, another thing to consider is one’s personal risk tolerance and appetite. What does this mean? Individuals should factor in whether they are willing to invest in a volatile market or whether they need some kind of safety net. If they are conservative investors, they could go for medium-risk and medium-return-on-investments. So, determining one’s risk profile carefully is vital, as that will help determine the kind of returns one can expect in the coming months and years.

2. Check type of funds
Many different types of mutual funds are available, and knowing the difference between them will help individuals identify which one they want to associate themselves with. Here are some of the popular types to explore:

• Large-cap funds
  These funds are known to invest in large, widely held companies with over 10 billion dollars or more in market capitalization.
• Small-cap funds
  The market capitalization of this type of investment is between $300 million and $2 billion.
• Growth funds
  These funds primarily invest in rapidly growing companies, and their primary objective remains capital appreciation. They usually have a high price-to-earnings ratio, but they also have a large potential for long-term capital appreciation.
• Value funds
  These funds hold stocks that are usually considered undervalued in the market. While they are from well-established companies, the trading is discounted, making them undervalued.
• Income funds
  These funds pay dividends or interest in the form of dividend stocks or even bond funds, so they help pay the investor a monthly, quarterly, or yearly income.

3. Understand management style
Another important thing to determine is the management style of the fund one invests in. Is it more active, or is it more passive? Here’s how to know the difference:
In an active management style, the fund manager buys and sells securities with the goal of beating a benchmark index, such as the S&P 500 or Russell 2000. In a passive management style, the fund manager does not try to outperform the benchmark index; in fact, they seek to mirror its performance.
The passive style outperforms the active style over time when invested for a prolonged period.

4. Confirm hidden fees
Mutual fund companies charge investors a fee for using the platform. So, it is important to understand how this pricing works. There is a load and a sales fee at the time of the purchase or sale of the mutual fund. There is a front-end load fee and a back-end load fee, and they charge around 3% to 6% of the total amount invested.
Other fees include the 12b-1 fee, which is usually part of the share price and is used for promotion or sales activities related to the distribution of the fund shares.

5. Know the size of the fund
While the fund size usually does not reflect its returns on investment, sometimes a fund can get too big, leading to inefficient management. An example from the past involves Fidelity’s Magellan Fund. The fund topped $100 billion, so they had to change the management to accommodate large daily investment flows. However, over time, the performance of this fund started to dwindle, leading to insufficient returns. There is no benchmark to say how big is too much, but $100 billion seemed like a large number to manage.

6. Check performance
It is important to check a mutual fund’s past performance to get an idea of its pattern. While past performance can say nothing about the fund’s future performance, as several factors are involved, it is important to have some background information. Always research thoroughly before investing in any mutual funds to ensure that investments are safe and that the fund manager is able to handle them.

Always speak to a financial investment consultant who can advise on the best way to invest one’s money and what kind of mutual funds to invest in. With the right advice, a professional can better help individuals and reduce their risk in the market.