American mutual funds are one of the most popular investment vehicles in the United States.
A mutual fund is an investment instrument consisting of a pool of funds collected from a large number of investors, and invested in securities such as bonds, stocks, and money market securities. A Mutual Fund is operated by a fund manager or investment manager, who invests the capital of the fund to obtain earnings and capital gains for the investors. The portfolio of a mutual fund is built and sustained to match the objectives of investment set forth in the prospectus.
Under the Investment Company Act of 1940, a mutual fund is legally referred to as an "open-ended company." A mutual fund is one of the three primary investment company types in the United States.
The Massachusetts Investors Trust was incorporated in 1924. The growth of mutual funds was hindered by the stock market crash of 1929. The Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 were passed by the U.S. Congress after the stock market crash. These laws require that a fund be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and that prospective investors be provided prospectus that will have information regarding the fund, the fund manager, and the securities. The SEC facilitated the drafting of the Investment Company Act of 1940, which describes the guidelines to which every SEC-registered fund must comply today. After this, mutual funds began to prosper with rejuvenated confidence in the share market.
The First Index Investment Trust was incorporated in 1976 as the first retail index fund. The name has been changed to the Vanguard 500 Index Fund and it is one of the largest mutual funds in the U.S.
The Individual Retirement Account (IRA) provisions were combined with Internal Revenue Code in 1975, which contributed to a large extent toward the growth of mutual funds. The employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans in which mutual funds are popular include IRA's, Roth IRA's, and 401(k)'s.
The national association of investment companies in the United States is called the Investment Company Institute (ICI). Under this organization, there were 8,606 Mutual Funds in April 2006.
Some of the leading Mutual Fund Families in the U.S.:
Under the Investment Company Act of 1940, a mutual fund is legally referred to as an "open-ended company." A mutual fund is one of the three primary investment company types in the United States.
The Massachusetts Investors Trust was incorporated in 1924. The growth of mutual funds was hindered by the stock market crash of 1929. The Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 were passed by the U.S. Congress after the stock market crash. These laws require that a fund be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and that prospective investors be provided prospectus that will have information regarding the fund, the fund manager, and the securities. The SEC facilitated the drafting of the Investment Company Act of 1940, which describes the guidelines to which every SEC-registered fund must comply today. After this, mutual funds began to prosper with rejuvenated confidence in the share market.
The First Index Investment Trust was incorporated in 1976 as the first retail index fund. The name has been changed to the Vanguard 500 Index Fund and it is one of the largest mutual funds in the U.S.
The Individual Retirement Account (IRA) provisions were combined with Internal Revenue Code in 1975, which contributed to a large extent toward the growth of mutual funds. The employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans in which mutual funds are popular include IRA's, Roth IRA's, and 401(k)'s.
The national association of investment companies in the United States is called the Investment Company Institute (ICI). Under this organization, there were 8,606 Mutual Funds in April 2006.
Some of the leading Mutual Fund Families in the U.S.:
- Allianz
- Barclays Global Investors
- Credit Suisse
- Franklin Templeton
- Goldman Sachs
- MetLife (CitiStreet)
- Morgan Stanley
- Oppenheimer
- TIAA-CREF
- Wells Fargo Advantage
