Mutual Funds

A feeder fund is one of many smaller investment funds that pool investor money, which is then aggregated under a single centralized master fund, allowing for reduced operation and trading costs.

An abnormal return deviates from an investment’s expected return and can help investors determine risk-adjusted performance or measure the effect of events such as lawsuits or buyouts.

The cornerstone of many investor portfolios, "Spider" refers to Standard & Poor's Depository Receipts, or SPDR, which is an exchange-traded fund that tracks its underlying index, the S&P 500.

Aggressive growth funds invest in companies that have high growth potential, including newer companies and those in hot sectors of the economy.They are actively managed to achieve above-average returns when markets are rising, but are more volatile and may underperform in down markets.

Class-C mutual fund shares charge a level sales load set as a fixed percentage assessed each year. This is different from front-load shares that charge investors at purchase or back-end loads that charge at time of sale. Class-C shares work best for investors planning to hold them for three years or less.

Life-cycle funds are asset-allocation funds in which the share of each asset class is automatically adjusted to lower risk as the desired retirement date approaches. They are also known as age-based funds and target-date funds.