2.. What’s Next for Your Personal Financial Plan?

Identify additional factors that may affect your decision to invest in this fund.

Develop a plan for monitoring an investment’s value once a fund is purchased.

Purpose: No checklist can serve as a foolproof guide for choosing a mutual fund. However, the following questions will help you evaluate a potential investment in a specific fund.
Financial Planning Activities: Use mutual fund websites, investment company websites, and/or library materials to answer these questions about a mutual fund that you believe could help you attain your investment objectives. This sheet is also available in an Excel spreadsheet format in Connect Finance.
Suggested Websites: www.morningstar.com, finance.yahoo.com, www.marketwatch.com

Category 1: Fund Characteristics 1. What is the fund’s ticker symbol? What is the fund’s name?__________________ 2. What is the fund’s Morningstar rating?__________________ 3. What is the minimum investment?__________________ 4. Does the fund allow telephone or internet exchanges? Yes or No 5. Is there a fee for exchanges? Yes or No Category 2: Costs 6. Is there a front-end load charge? If so, how much is it?__________________ 7. Is there a contingent deferred sales load? If so, how much is it?__________________ 8. How much is the annual management fee?__________________ 9. Is there a 12b-1 fee? If so, how much is it?__________________ 10. What is the fund’s expense ratio?__________________ Category 3: Diversification 11. What is the fund’s objective?__________________ 12. What types of securities does the fund’s portfolio include?__________________ 13. How many different securities does the fund’s portfolio include?__________________ 14. How many types of industries does the fund’s portfolio include?__________________ 15. What are the fund’s five largest holdings?__________________ Category 4: Fund Performance 16. How long has the fund manager been with the fund?__________________ 17. How would you describe the fund’s performance over the past 12 months?__________________ 18. How would you describe the fund’s performance over the past five years?__________________ 19. How would you describe the fund’s performance over the past 10 years?__________________ 20. What is the current net asset value for this fund?__________________ 21. What is the high net asset value for this fund over the last 12 months?__________________ 22. What is the low net asset value for this fund over the last 12 months?__________________ 23. What do the experts say about this fund?__________________ Category 5: Conclusion 24. Based on the above information, do you think an investment in this fund will help you achieve your investment goals? Yes or No 25. Explain your answer to question 24.

A Word of Caution When you use a checklist, there is always a danger of overlooking important relevant information. This checklist is not a cure-all, but it does provide some very sound questions that you should answer before making a mutual fund investment decision. Quite simply, it is a place to start. If you need other information, you are responsible for obtaining it and for determining how it affects your potential investment.